Lost Promises
by Chii Motosuwa
Summary: The Federation is being attacked by an unknown group from the shadows. Meanwhile, three of the gundam pilots are haunted by memories after encountering two mysterious people working for the Federation. in Haitus
1. Chapter 1: Mysterious Youths

GUNDAM--WING  
  
LOST PROMISES  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:  
  
Jessi-chan: All ideas for a fic comes trough a mind with strange fantasies or experiences from our reality. Though one of the writers of this fanfic isn't that normal person and the other is a vengeful young lady, my partner and best friend in writing this fanfic, the one and only Mae-chan. I am describe by her as a multiple personality psycho from another world, so a friend says and adds she likes my personality this way...[Ahem]...which with I am confused if I'm the one who's crazy or is it her. I got the idea of writing a fanfic from whenever my older sister buys an anime tape I always get cut off. Which conclusively makes you want to tear your hair off. Mae-chan's job is help me with the storyline and she also makes the mushy stuff........... Wweeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllll !!! I don't own this series so life sucks. And if you hate this fic, don't even waste your time e-mailing me, I might just hunt you down and make you regret your comment.......................... NWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha-ahahahaHACK ! COUGH !!.................  
  
Mae-chan: Okay then..........  
  
Jessi-chan: Oh be quiet.........  
  
Mae-chan: ...................]  
  
Mae-chan: Hope you enjoy our  first attempt fic !!! *^_^*  
  
   
  
   
  
Reminder: This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information are wrong and never existed in the series.  
  
   
  
   
  
MYSTERIOUS YOUTHS  
  
Two figures stood silently, watching the exploding base a few miles away from the ledge of the cliff. The clouds that covered the sky move away allowing the full moon that hung in the heavens to glow it's eerie light. It's light illuminated on the two figures, revealing that one is a boy with black hair and the other is a girl of younger age with brown hair . The black smoke from the base cover the moon once again, hiding the two figures back into the dark of the night.  
  
*********************  
  
"3:00 a.m. this morning, the Norwegian Central Base was attacked. A total of 674 casualties were reported on both military officers and local citizens. The explosion reached an 80 kilometer radius due to various weapons being stored within the base. The OZ forces responds that this was indeed done by rebels. Presuming, sent by the colonies, the Gundam pilots. Although no sightings of any Gundam mobile suit was reported, responsibility was placed upon these peopl-----"  
  
   
  
   
  
Duo turns the TV off while letting out a sigh.  
  
"Oh great ! Now we're being held responsible for something we didn't do." he muttered, "So, who was it this time ?"  
  
Heero did not respond to his question. Duo frowned and turned away from him.  
  
"Seems that Mr. Perfectionist is ignoring me too."  
  
"It wasn't any of us." Heero finally answered as his screen flashed different binary numbers.  
  
Duo walked up to him and stared at the screen.  
  
"What the hell is this ?"  
  
"A coded password." Heero replied.  
  
"ALL THESE NUMBERS !!" Duo blurted.  
  
"It's a complicated code...."  
  
"Holy shit." Duo commented as he watched more numbers appearing to the screen, "Just how many are there ?"  
  
"A total of three hundred million numbers to choose from and only 10 numbers needed."  
  
"Ten out of three hundred million ?" a sweat drop appears on Duo's head, "How the hell can you figure that ?"  
  
"I can't, but all I know is that this person is more than just a computer expert."  
  
Duo sighed again.  
  
"We'll be in trouble if this new rebel force goes against us, wont we ?"  
  
Heero nodded.  
  
********************************  
  
A young girl with dark brown hair stared out the small window of the airplane with her dark, almost opaque, chestnut eyes. Judging from her looks and clothes, she's about 16-15 years of age and a military officer of high rank. Her hair was tied to a braid and into a bun, giving her a more mature look.  
  
"You don't look too happy." a man of older age, about 19, whispered in her ear.  
  
He had short black hair, that seems to be partly gelled up and dark emerald eyes that sparkled in the light like a cat's.  
  
He received no answer.  
  
A soldier walked up to them both.  
  
"Lieutenant, Commander, we'll be landing at the airport momentarily." the soldier said to them.  
  
"I see. Thank you." the man replied.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
They got out of the plane and was welcomed by the press and other high ranking militia officers. They were blinded by the flashes the camera's had and bombarded by questions by the vultures of the media. Ignoring the disturbance, they turn to the officers. They saluted and shook hands with the officers.  
  
"Thank you for coming, Commander Midaki." the High commander greeted.  
  
They notice the young girl with him.  
  
"This must be Lt. Machiro." The high commander took her hand and shook it, "I hope the trip was not too tiresome."  
  
"..Not really." her voice was soft spoken, but had a deadpan tone.  
  
*******************************************  
  
"Two young officers landed at the Hudson Bay airport this morning from the L-6 colonies. It is reported that both are lead specialists on reserve in the L-6 post of the now taken over Federation militia. Their names are Commander Tetsuya Midaki, and Lieutenant Ayame Machiro."  
  
Quatre dropped the cup he held on to the floor, shattering to many pieces.  
  
"Quatre-sama ?! Is there something wrong ?" Rasid entered the room worriedly, hearing the crashing sound.  
  
Quatre finally notices the broken tea cup he had dropped.  
  
"I-I'm sorry. I dropped it by accident." he laughed nervously.  
  
"I'll help you clean up." Rasid offered.  
  
He notices again that his young master's attention was towards the TV. It showed the picture of the two soldier that arrived that day. Quatre wore a mask of concern.  
  
****************************  
  
"I wish you acted more appropriately when we met the Commanders." Tetsuya sighed.  
  
".........."  
  
"Answering them more would have been better too."  
  
".........."  
  
"The again, maybe I expected too much from you."  
  
".........."  
  
"You know, answering me would be much better."  
  
"The answers I may only say to you at the moment will only contradict everything you had suggested." Ayame answered with a mono-toned voice.  
  
".......Right." Tetsuya frowned, "So why the cranky mood all of a sudden ?"  
  
".............."  
  
Tetsuya watched her from across the room and waited for an answer.  
  
"....I hate this place..."  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"....I hate the Earth."  
  
Tetsuya did not even bother to challenge her answer. He only came up to her and patted her on the head.  
  
"Idiot." he said with a smile.  
  
*****************************************  
  
"So, you're heading this way, huh ?" Duo asked, "That's quite strange."  
  
"......You think so ?" Quatre muttered in a half embarrassed voice.  
  
"Usually, you only decide to join us if it's really important." Duo replied with the usual grin, "So what is it this time ?"  
  
Quatre hesitated to answer for a moment.  
  
".......This afternoon, I saw the news." he said.  
  
"Oh, yeah !! About that guy and the girl right ?!"  
  
Quatre nodded.  
  
"Hey, Quatre...That girl was pretty cute. Is she the reason ?" Duo teased.  
  
"........Yes." Quatre answered.  
  
Duo froze in surprise of Quatre's reply.  
  
"No, no !! I didn't mean it like that." Quatre frowned nervously as Duo eyed him suspiciously through the comm. link, "I have important questions I must ask her."  
  
The look did not disappear from Duo's face.  
  
"...You don't believe me do you ?"  
  
"No." Duo blurted.  
  
"Oh, come on, Duo !! You know I'm not someone who'd run after women from the other side of the world."  
  
"I wonder..."  
  
Quatre frowned even more.  
  
"Alright, alright...But if what you're saying is true, how the hell are you going to meet her without getting yourself into trouble ? I mean she's an OZ soldier after all."  
  
".....I have already planned it."  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"St. Catherine's Catholic school ?!!" Duo blurted at Quatre.  
  
Heero had just entered the room. He could not help, but stand there to listen to their conversation.  
  
"I wish you wouldn't scream like that." Quatre muttered.  
  
".......That's a catholic school, y'know ?" Duo countered.  
  
"I am aware of that."  
  
"......You do remember you're not catholic, right ?"  
  
"Yes. I'm entering as a student under special requisition from my father."  
  
"You actually asked your father? Didn't you say you'd be disowned?"  
  
"........ I don't know why he actually replied to my request..... but he did."  
  
Duo did not respond this time, but a frown grew on his face terribly.  
  
"What are you two planning ?" Heero finally asked.  
  
The two flinched at the sound of the familiar voice. Duo slowly turned to the brown haired young man.  
  
"I said, what the hell are you two planning ?" he repeated.  
  
"Heero....you're there....Well..Today, I saw a report on two specialist soldiers that landed on earth in the Hudson Bay International Airport. It concerns me that we were not informed about it earlier." Quatre replied.  
  
"And ?"  
  
"I found out that the young woman will be attending a school called St. Catherine's in Maine." he continued.  
  
"So you're planning to follow her ?" Heero asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Quatre....This is crazy, you know." Duo said.  
  
Quatre sighed. The other two waited for a response.  
  
"If you do not wish to join me, it is quite understandable. I shall go by myself." Quatre said in a more serious tone.  
  
"Quatre, don't be foolish."  
  
"I'll go with you." Heero interrupted them.  
  
"WHAT ?!!" Duo shouted in surprise.  
  
"Thank you, Heero." Quatre smiled with gratitude.  
  
"I'll meet you in Maine tomorrow morning."  
  
"All right." Quatre's comm. link closed.  
  
Duo slammed his hands on the table in frustration.  
  
"Are you serious ?!!" Duo asked.  
  
"You're not coming with us. So, why are you complaining ?"  
  
"If you get caught, that'll be the end of it !!" Duo shouted, "Maine has one of the largest defense forces of OZ. You'll never get away."  
  
".....Do you not find it strange that we were not informed of these soldiers before hand?" Heero asked.  
  
"I do !! But --"  
  
"What if they are more trouble than Zechs and Trieze ? What will you do then if they are left alone ?"  
  
Duo stayed silent for a moment.  
  
"...This is crazy....You're both nuts..." he muttered under his breath.  
  
*****************************************  
  
Quatre stared outside the window of his room, remembering an abominable occurrence that had happened in the past. He remembers himself from six years ago, sitting near the TV, hearing about the death of a close friend and this person's father caused by an accidental explosion within one of the Federation bases of England. The same type of blast that had occurred that morning and killed hundreds of people, as reported on the news. He sat on the bed and laid back onto the pillows, with one arm covering part of his face, as his memory of that dreadful day haunted him until he finally fell asleep.  
  
   
  
   
  
A young eight year old Quatre stood silently before a group of people, dressed in fancy gowns and tuxedos, asking him questions and commenting at his cuteness and naivity. These people did not know how his true character was. He was a genius musically and academically. These skills helps him to be more aware of the true situations of the corrupt government he is now living with.  
  
He sighed in boredom after the crowd had finally gave him some air to breath. Iria appears before him with a smile.  
  
"Doshita no, onee-san ?" he asked.  
  
"I want you to meet someone really special." she replied with a slight grin.  
  
"Please, sister....No more strangers." he whined.  
  
"Strangers ? I'm afraid you got it all wrong !" she said with a small frown, "You've met her before."  
  
"When ?" Quatre asked with a smile of doubt.  
  
"...Ummmm....I guess when you were....Four ?..I think..." she muttered under her breath.  
  
"Sis." he frowned.  
  
"I know, I know !! You can't remember, but you still have to meet her." she laughed.  
  
"...Her ?" Quatre seemed a bit shocked.  
  
"Un-hm." Iria nodded, "Honto ni kawaii no musume-chan."  
  
"....No." Quatre muttered.  
  
"Please Quatre !! This is the last one, I promise !!" she begged.  
  
"What are you up to, sister ?" Quatre grimaced at her sister, knowing her tendency to pair him up with different girls of his age.  
  
He is the heir to the Winner family after all, she would usually say. Quatre gloomed at the idea of it. He no longer was excited about taking over the family name, knowing where he came from and all. A test tube baby, he laughed. His father could replace him at any time he wanted. He despised his father for that. To himself, he was just a puppet. A mere pawn.  
  
He awakened from his daze after hearing Iria begging him to come with her once again. He nodded, thinking that this help him pass the time for the rest of the night. Maybe his sister will leave him alone after, and he can return to his room with no objections. Iria smiled happily and quickly dragged him across the dancing hall, to his father and an unfamiliar man talking with him. The man was as tall as his father, with black hair and dark chestnut eyes. The two men turned to the youngsters. The man laughed and stared at the young boy.  
  
"You must be young Master Quatre." he greeted, "Quite a fine young man he's become."  
  
"T-Thank you." Quatre stuttered in shyness.  
  
"Iria-san has also grown into a beautiful young lady." the man commented.  
  
"Why thank you Mr. Shiriori. I'm quite flattered." she laughed.  
  
"So, what brings you to us, Ms. Iria ?" Mr. Shiriori asked.  
  
"I wanted my little brother to meet your daughter." she gestured at the crowd of aristocrats dancing and socializing in the background, "As you can see, there are no other children in his age to speak with. I believe Nicky is of appropriate age."  
  
"...Well...Nicky is a year younger. I do not wish for Quatre to be baby- sitting for me."  
  
"Oh, please Mr. Shiriori. Your daughter is old enough to take care of herself. You should have more faith in her." Iria replied.  
  
"Tomoko, I think it'll be all right." their father added.  
  
"Well, if you say so Winner..." he turned back to Iria, "She should be somewhere around."  
  
Quatre and Iria left the two adults. Iria's face brightens up as she spots a little girl, wearing a simple white dress with laced corner and frills. Her brown hair had a small ribbon, decorated with pink sakura flowers, and brown eyes that glimmered with the reflecting light of the candles and chandeliers. She was eventually conversing with a few of the adults crowded in a semicircle, listening to her. The closer they got, the clearer they could hear her voice and the agreeing voices of the group before her. Quatre pulled her sister to stop behind the group, so he could listen to the child.  
  
"As much as we may want to change their procedures, the more they are moved to make the citizens suffer. What good is that to us ?" the child blurted.  
  
"But, if we do nothing, people are still being killed." one of the adults said as the others agreed.  
  
"That is true....But forcing people to fight is wrong. It's almost like stealing the lives of others." she retorted, "King Sank made his mistake for allowing the power of the Federation forces to grow. Now, the Sank Kingdom is under martial law and eventually had spread to the colonies. Even if you decide to take arms now, the war will never end."  
  
That remark caught Quatre's full attention.  
  
"Even if we decide to fight now.... it will never end?" he thought, "What is she babbling about? ..... If we don't fight, how will this war end? How can we stop the suffering of people?"  
  
"Then what can we do to stop the war if we don't fight back?" Quatre asked out loud.  
  
All eyes turn to the youngster. Iria was even surprised at her siblings question.  
  
"Quatre..." she thought in worry.  
  
"You won't be able to stop it. War... peace... it's a never ending dance of suffering and happiness, an endless waltz of life. As long as living things exist...there is no chance absolute peace can be attained.."  
  
"Demo --" Quatre was interrupted by a small clapping noise.  
  
The audience turned to the young boy's companion. Iria was applauding the young child's speech. She smiled.  
  
"Onee-san..." he muttered.  
  
"I think that this little debate has gone far enough. We should not be talking about such depressing things, we are at a party after all." Iria continued.  
  
The child smiled back and nodded at her as the others followed in applauding. The group slowly broke up after each one of the adults would comment on her knowledge and openness. This child was special, Quatre thought as he watched the girl. Iria approached Quatre with the girl by her side.  
  
"I would like you to meet my brother, Quatre." Iria said, "Quatre, this is Nicole. The daughter of Mr. Tomoko Shiriori."  
  
"How do you do ?" she replied while giving a curtsy.  
  
Quatre bowed immediately in response.  
  
"Ms. Iria !" Mr. Shiriori called as he approached the group.  
  
"Is there a problem." Iria asked.  
  
"I seemed to have lost track of your father. I can't find him anywhere." he said.  
  
"I'll help you find him." she smiled, "You too can go ahead and talk. I'll see you later."  
  
Quatre watched her sister until the moment she disappeared in the crowd of people.  
  
"Would you like to talk somewhere more private ?" Nicole asked as she tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Huh ?"  
  
"We seem to be attracting some unwanted attention." she pointed at a few groups of adult laughing and giggling.  
  
They appear to be gossiping about the two children being together. Quatre blushed.  
  
"I think we should." he laughed nervously.  
  
----------------------------------------  
  
They stood silently outside to the balcony over looking the huge garden. Nicole walked over to the railing and sat on it. Quatre seemed uncomfortable.  
  
"Isn't that a bit dangerous ?" Quatre asked.  
  
".....Not really.." she answered with a change of voice.  
  
It was now more hesitative and mono-toned, much more different from that girl he saw that stood in front of a crowd and spoke her mind without any concern.  
  
"I think differently from her.... But everything she said hit me inside..." he thought and watched her from the corner of his eye, "How can she speak so freely about such things? Without worrying about being criticized by others?"  
  
The music began to play in the background and Nicole turned to him. She notices that he's nervous, unable to speak. Nicole was now concerned.  
  
"Am I scaring him ?" she thought as she stared back into the empty garden.  
  
Quatre sighed and walked up to her. Nicole stared at him blankly for he was bowing and one hand was offered to her.  
  
"May I have this dance ?" he asked.  
  
He hears her getting off the railing.  
  
"Is she leaving ?" he though in his mind.  
  
He then feels a hand in his. He looked up and saw Nicole smiling at him gently and answered "Yes."  
  
to be continued.....  
  
   
  
   
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Jessi-chan: Kya ! Kya ! Kawaii desho nee ?!! I only wish Quatre was real and met him like that. I wouldn't let that offer pass up, ever. Nee, Mae- chan ? Mae-chan ?  
  
Mae-chan: Shame, man.  
  
Jessi-chan: Huh ? sweat drops What's wrong ?  
  
Mae-chan: Let me ask you something......  
  
Jessi-chan: Nani ?  
  
Mae-chan: Aren't they a bit too young to be....like this ?  
  
Jessi-chan: .....Mae-chan....  
  
Mae-chan: What ?  
  
Jessi-chan: Don't you remember who suggested this ?  
  
Mae-chan: sweatdrops Uh.....ISN'T IT SOOO GOOOOOOD!!!  OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOO !!  
  
Jessi-chan: Bakayaro....  
  
END 


	2. Chapter 2: Ayame

GUNDAM--WING  
  
LOST PROMISES  
  
CHAPTER 2  
  
DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:  
  
Jessi-chan: Konnichiwa mina-sama !! Mae-chan and I are working really hard on this fic. We luckily had finished one chapter. It's fun in writing this fic. I thank all the people for their comments. This fic has no connection to the series at all. Well too bad !! I admire most writers of the fics.....uh mostly I forgot their names. I love the fic called dreams. I think that was about Duo stealing some booze. Eventually all of the pilots gets drunk and all and starts having nightmares. I don't get it though......most writers pick on poor Wufei in the fics. I don't think turning his gundam pink is very nice even though I think that part was hilarious. I would love to work on a group fic........  
  
Mae-chan : huh ?  
  
Jessi-chan: It's when you start a fic and then you pass it to another person in the net for them to continue it.  
  
Mae-chan: Oh.  
  
Jessi-chan: How can you describe the fic we are working on ?  
  
Mae-chan: It's good................... It's confusing- good.......Hahahahaha....*^_^*  
  
Jessi-chan: "........................................................................... ..............................."  
  
Mae-chan: "Nani yo ?!"  
  
Jessi-chan: Nanimo-arimasen......Anyway we have to finish the fic. Hai, hai! We don't own the series so too bad for us and we are absolutely not making any money out of this. The characters of G-Wing all belong to their rightful company Which I cannot seem to remember which one, and all made up characters are made by the writers of this fic. Comparing the other Gundams stories to Gundam Wing, Gundam Wing's storyline is more about the character's relations to each other, friendship and so on. They pay less attention about the mobile suits. And the guys look cuter. Too bad that their voice actors/actresses are at their late 20's and 30's.......even more. No one cares about that !! They still look cute no matter what. Let's start the fic !!!  
  
   
  
   
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------  
  
   
  
   
  
Duo, Heero, and Quatre stood before the tall gates of the high class school. Duo scratched his head.  
  
"Are you sure this is wise ?" Duo asked.  
  
"No one forced you to come." Heero replied with the usual hostile tone of voice.  
  
"But I'm really thankful you came." Quatre smiled trying to break a start of an argument.  
  
"It's not that I wanted to...But if I left you two alone, you probably will get in trouble." Duo proudly articulated.  
  
"How strange ? The last time I recalled, you were the cause of those troubles." Heero commented and walked ahead.  
  
Quatre frowned and followed Heero. Duo watched the tall building stretch up towards the sky and sighed.  
  
"I can't believe I'm doing this." he muttered.  
  
   
  
   
  
AYAME  
  
"We have a new student." the teacher said and gestured at the brown haired boy.  
  
"My name's Duo Maxwell. Nice to meet you all." Duo greeted with the usual high spirited smile.  
  
There were whispers and giggling within the students.  
  
"Quiet down everyone. Well then Maxwell-kun, your seat is over there." the teacher uttered as she pointed at a desk at the back, right beside the window.  
  
Duo immediately walked at the desk and sat on the chair also noticing an empty desk in front of his. He studied his fellow peers to see if the soldier was within the group.  
  
"Could this be her seat?" he thought.  
  
He feels a tap on his right shoulder. He turns to the student across from him. A young dirty blonde haired girl smiled at him. Her aquamarine eyes flashed gloriously against the sun each time she blinked with her uppity smile. She offered him her hand.  
  
"My name is Mai. Nanami, Mai Anne that is."  
  
Duo took her hand and shook it.  
  
"Duo Maxwell."  
  
"It's nice to meet you Duo-kun."  
  
--------------------------------  
  
"That's great!" Duo commented, "So you skipped a grade, huh?"  
  
"Yup!!" Mai nodded happily, "I took some sort of entrance exam and got it perfect, so they made an offer for me to take another test, but for a higher grade!!"  
  
"Wow...That means you must be awfully smart."  
  
"...N-Not really." she stuttered shyly, "I'm still not used to being complimented about it, even from my own parents. And it's a bit of a bother. I'm the shortest in the whole grade, but not the youngest."  
  
"Not the youngest?" Duo asked.  
  
"...Well, there's a student, about a month or so younger than me, but she's awfully tall."  
  
"How tall in she?"  
  
"Hmm… She's about your height or maybe a few millimeters shorter or so. She's the one who sits in front of you in class......But then again....She wasn't there, so how would you know..."  
  
"What's her name?"  
  
"...Oh! Machiro, Ayame-san I believe." she said, "She's very quiet, but much smarter than me."  
  
"Really?" Duo muttered.  
  
"I heard you transferred with some other students. Are they friend of yours?"  
  
"Well, sort of." Duo replied, "Speaking about the devils...Quatre! Heero!! Over here!!"  
  
"There you are, D--...." Quatre notices the girl sitting by their braided friend on the grass.  
  
"Looks like you're getting along with the students." Quatre smiled as he walked towards them.  
  
"With the women, you mean." Heero added in his usual voice.  
  
"Hello." Mai greeted, "Are you the new transfer students?"  
  
"Yes. My name's Quatre Raberba Winner. It's nice to meet you... uh.."  
  
"My name is Nanami, Mai Anne. Nice to meet you too, Quatre-kun." she immediately turns to Heero.  
  
"This is Heero Yuy. He's not what you call....talkative." Duo commented.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Heero-kun." she smiled and stood up, "Oh! Hey, would you like to have a tour of the school?"  
  
"We would very much appreciate that." Quatre responded cheerfully.  
  
"What did you find?" Heero asked Duo.  
  
"...Ayame Machiro is here, for sure. I got confirmation on that."  
  
"Nanami-san, are you busy?" a voice asked from behind the group  
  
"Ayame-san, konnichiwa!" Mai greeted cheerfully.  
  
The three boys turn to the new figure. The slender figured girl stood before them in the navy blue school uniform. Her brown hair was loose and her eyes had a lighter tone than usual. One thing that did not change was the deadpan tone of her soft-spoken voice and the piercing icy stare in her eyes. Duo notices something else. Around her neck was a silver cross pendant with a beautiful sapphire stone that was placed on the middle. Duo flinched a little.  
  
"Oh, yes, I forgot." Mai quickly stood beside Ayame, "Everyone, this is Ayame Machiro. Ayame-san, this is Duo Maxwell."  
  
"Y-Yo!" Duo greeted.  
  
"Heero Yuy."  
  
"....."  
  
Mai frowned.  
  
"Um... He's quiet about things." she whispered to Ayame's ear.  
  
"It's understandable." Ayame replied.  
  
"And Quatre Raberba Winner."  
  
"......"  
  
"..Quatre-kun? Is there a problem?" Mai asked worriedly.  
  
Quatre snapped from his trance.  
  
"Uh... Huh? Oh! Nice to meet you." he finally responded.  
  
"And you're all transferee's?" Ayame asked.  
  
"Yes." Quatre answered.  
  
".......Hen nano..." Ayame muttered.  
  
"W-What's strange?" Quatre inquired.  
  
"How come all of you transferred in the same day and seem to know each other very well?" she questioned, making all three boys slightly wince.  
  
Ayame gave them the cautious look.  
  
"Uh...well..." Duo had no idea what to say.  
  
The stare she was giving was unavoidable and was a bit nerve-wrecking. She suddenly pats Quatre lightly on the shoulder.  
  
"No need to be nervous. I'm just kidding." she said in a lighter tone of voice, "With a reaction like 'that', it makes you look like you're planning to do something bad."  
  
She started to walk back to the dorms.  
  
"Uh! Ayame-san?! What did you need me for?!" Mai asked.  
  
Ayame turns back to her.  
  
"Oh... right... Elena wanted to speak with you." she said and walked away again.  
  
"Aww...That sucks." she turns to the three boys, "Sorry guys, but I'll have to give the tour the next time I have free time."  
  
"Who is Elena?" Heero asked.  
  
"Elena Rosenberg is the student council president. She's well known for her long lectures and speeches, but she's awfully kind. Well, I gotta get going."  
  
"Thank you for the offer anyway." Quatre smiled.  
  
"I'll see you all tomorrow." she waved and ran to the main school building.  
  
Duo sat back down to the ground with a sigh.  
  
"I thought I was gonna break when that Ayame person showed up." he said.  
  
Quatre gave a slight smile at his comment.  
  
"I thought you found her pretty?"  
  
"She is... but.... she's a bit scary." Duo replied with a frown.  
  
Quatre smirked.  
  
"How about you, Heero?" Duo asked.  
  
Heero did not even bother to turn to them and just walked away.  
  
".......Okay....How about you, Quatre?"  
  
"I don't mind her." he responded with a smile.  
  
".....You like her, don't you?" Duo teased as he put him in a head lock.  
  
"D-Duo...I can't...breathe...." Quatre said in a panic  
  
They both look up, only seeing Ayame a few meters away from them, wearing a blank stare.  
  
"...What are you doing?" she asked bluntly in her mono-toned voice.  
  
Duo immediately releases Quatre as the blonde boy began to cough for air. A small smile broke from her mouth as she watched Duo apologizing to Quatre.  
  
"....It really is strange....." she thought, "....It feels like I've met you all before...It feels really strange." her gaze stayed at Quatre who appeared to be still shaken about what Duo had just done.  
  
Quatre notices Ayame staring at him with her light brown eyes. Duo also notices this and grins.  
  
"I think I'll leave you two alone." he said.  
  
"Where are you going?" Quatre asked worriedly.  
  
"Going to do some homework." he replied.  
  
"Homework....?" Quatre and Ayame both muttered.  
  
********************************  
  
Heero's computer began to output some information as he hacked in to the school data files. He highlights Ayame's name and opens her file.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
NAME: Machiro, Ayame  
  
AGE: 14  
  
Japanese\American decent  
  
BIRTH DATE: A.C. 181, March exact date of birth, N/A  
  
PLACE OF BIRTH: N/A  
  
EYE COLOR: Chestnut brown  
  
HAIR COLOR: Raw umber  
  
HEIGHT: 5'8"  
  
FATHER: N/A  
  
OTHER: N/A  
  
HISTORY OF EDUCATION: N/A  
  
STUDENT HISTORY: Under custody of the Federation forces since A.C.191. Parents are both unknown. Found in an L-6 colony under the care of Colonel Geraldo Mizuno. Currently a Lieutenant, class S, in the OZ militia.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Geraldo Mizuno...Then that means...Katleen Mizuno is connected to this." Heero muttered, "Then she may know something about Tomoko's child." Heero lay back on his chair, "Ayame Machiro..... What is someone like her doing here?"  
  
**********************************************  
  
"So... I look like someone you knew once..." Ayame said showing some signs of interest to the blonde's story.  
  
"Yes." Quatre continued.  
  
"...Is that it?" Ayame asked, "Is that what you've been worrying about?"  
  
"Yes. That's pretty much it." Quatre muttered, "Isn't it stupid?"  
  
"No, not at all." Ayame replied.  
  
Quatre stared at her in surprise. The two teens where sitting on the chairs on the balcony area of the huge cafeteria. It was already dark, and the stars shone brightly above them.  
  
"… Why do you think it's not stupid?" he asked.  
  
"...Well...Sometimes, when I look at a mirror, I feel like this person that's reflected before me isn't really me. It's more like a copy of someone else." she said while staring at the sky, "I've been thinking like this, since I woke up from that hospital."  
  
"...A hospital...?" Quatre wondered in concern, "You were in a hospital?"  
  
Ayame nodded.  
  
"That's why all of the information about me is limited." Ayame said, "They say I was in an accident... and that I've been in a coma for almost a year... My name was unheard of. It was listed, but the information and description clashed when they compared the files on this other Ayame and the medical records they had on me… So, they couldn't find my parents.  They say that my parents may have been from the lower classes.... but even DNA tracking had no results ... Someone also told me that I might have been a human experiment, even a clone of someone.... a clone of that Nicole you spoke of… Maybe even... a test tube baby."  
  
A memory of a younger version of Quatre fighting with his father flashed in his mind. He frowned.  
  
"I'm sure you aren't." Quatre muttered, "If you were, they would have known who the donors were."  
  
"...Really?" Ayame asked.  
  
"....I was born that way....I know how it works."  
  
Ayame stared at him.  
  
"You see, even anonymous donors will be recorded. It's for the safety of the child that's born." He explained.  
  
"...... I hope you don't mind me asking.... but... Did you find out who the donors were?" she questioned hesitantly.  
  
"I didn't need to." a certain roughness came out of the tone of his voice, "My father already told me everything."  
  
"I knew I shouldn't have asked. I triggered something bad in your past, didn't I?" Ayame asked again in a tone that almost sounded ashamed.  
  
Quatre didn't answer. He then felt a hand stroking his hair gently. Quatre turned to Ayame, who wore a look of hesitative compassion.  
  
"Maybe it's time you threw those horrid memories away." she suggested, surprising Quatre.  
  
Ayame withdrew her hand quickly; unsure of what she had done just then and stared at the floor as she clutched her hands together.  
  
"I-I mean... I'm sure there's more to this story than what you are telling me.... But..." she stuttered, "Your anger of knowing the fact of being born that way will only cause you to regret…feel sadness, and even hatred. If you become like that, people who love you will suffer too..... Besides... Isn't being alive and striving enough for you?"  
  
A slight colour of red added to Quatre's cheeks and smiled at her.  
  
"You want to know something funny?" he asked.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nicole said almost the same thing."  
  
"..Hmmmm....Now that's curious..." Ayame thought out loud.  
  
Quatre began to laugh at her remark. But at the same time, the night of the dance played continuously in his mind as he continued to talk to the brunette girl that sat beside him, with openness, feeling the same things he did when he was with 'Nicole Shiriori'. He felt relaxed and comfortable. He was happy.  
  
"....We have met...haven't we..." Ayame thought as she watched him, with such gentle eyes that she had never used on anyone before.  
  
Somehow, seeing this young man and hearing his voice was nostalgic to her. She felt a familiar feeling of sheer happiness and deep sadness overwhelming her at the same time. A feeling she had never felt before. It was a longing. A longing to be with this person, to watch and protect that smile he bared. She wanted to see it as much as she can somehow...... Maybe it is because he has that something she could never do… something she longs to do..... to freely smile.  
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
   
  
to be continued....  
  
   
  
   
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Jessi-chan: admiring last scene  
  
Mae-chan: ...Jessi-chan ?  
  
Jessi-chan: ignoring  
  
Mae-chan: ....Umm...We have to end the fic, y'know....  
  
Jessi-chan: still ignoring  
  
Mae-chan: sweatdrop Umm...uh..Jessi-chan...?  
  
Jessi-chan: Admiring Aaaah....Quatre-sama, kakowaii !! little hearts start floating around the room  
  
Mae-chan: ...Nanda sore ?turns back to the Audience\Readers Since Jessi- chan's too busy admiring poor Quatre-kun, I shall be the one to bid you farewell andwait for the next chapter of the Fanfics.......Well.....Bye.  
  
   
  
   
  
END 


	3. Chapter 3: Memory of the Crucifix and th...

GUNDAM--WING  
  
LOST PROMISES  
  
CHAPTER 3  
  
DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:  
  
Jessi-chan: Ohayo mina-san !!  
  
Mae-chan: Ohayo....  
  
Jessi-chan: Welcome to chapter 3 of our fic. So far we only introduced most of our characters and so on.  
  
Mae-chan: And added a few relationship stuff too.  
  
Jessi-chan: Waaah !! She's pairing her up with 'MY' Quatre-sama !!  
  
Mae-chan: Can you continue your speech before we loose the interest of the audience?  Besides, I didn't say that I'm pairing them up at all !!  
  
Jessi-chan: tear filled eyes Deemmmooo !!  
  
Mae-chan: .....As you may know, We do not own the series, but you just can't help to change part of the storyline or more, he-heh. Jessi- chan's older sister says that it is impossible to write a fic about GW because of its serious storyline and all Unless you're the original writer and all. All youneed is a creative writer, nee, Jessi-chan? petting Jessi-chan on the head  
  
Jessi-chan: Meow !!  
  
Mae-chan: I found that nothing but a put down....yet I still believe that nothing's impossible, yadda.. yadda and yadda..........continues to pet Jessi-chan's head  
  
Jessi-chan: Prrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....  
  
Mae-chan: Aaah ! Kawaii no neko-chan desu nee?! Enjoy the fic !!  
  
   
  
*********************************   
  
MEMORY OF THE CRUCIFIX AND THE FLUTE  
  
  
  
A young seven year old Duo ran swiftly across the hall way. He looks at the watch on his left hand and frowns.  
  
"Aw, shoot. Now, I'm in trouble." He muttered.  
  
He stops and hides behind a post and looked around if someone saw him. A grin broke from his mouth as he began to laugh hysterically. He walks into the church and sat on one of the pews. Seeing that he is now in the safe zone, he takes out an apple from his pocket and cleans it. Just as he was about to bite it, he notices a young brunette girl, a black haired 12-year- old girl and a black haired man with the head priest from across the aisle. Duo quickly ducks into the pews as he hides the apple back into his jacket's pocket and waited for the head priest to disappear with the three new unknown visitors into his office.  Finding interest to the new faces, he decided to take a little peek in to the room.  
  
"Things are going well, actually." the priest said as he sat behind the wooden desk.  
  
"That's good to hear." Tomoko replied.  
  
"What brings you here anyway, Shiriori-dono?"  
  
Tomoko turns to the younger girl.  
  
"I wanted Nicole to receive communion before we leave. I would not have any more time later on...so..."  
  
"I understand...Kathleen-dono would have wanted it..." the priest turns to her, "And how old are you child?"  
  
"...Six..." she replied.  
  
"...She's a bit young...." the priest muttered.  
  
"Bend the rules for now. I'll take responsibility." Tomoko said immediately.  
  
The priest stared at him silently with a serious face. Nicole ignored them as her eyes wandered at a painting of two angels with Jesus in it, hanging by the door. She then notices the other presence by the door.  
  
"Uh-oh! I'm busted!!" Duo thought and quickly ran out of sight.  
  
-------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Duo breathed heavily after running away from the head priest's door way. He was now at the open field behind the churches area. He feels two fingers on his right ear, followed by a harsh tug.  
  
"And where have you been young man?!" a woman with blue eyes, wearing convent clothes asked.  
  
"A-At t-t-the s-school gat--e, ow!" he stuttered as he tries to struggle from the nun's clutches.  
  
"Don't lie to me, Duo! Tell me where you have been.  Your teacher said you skipped today." she continued.  
  
"Ow-ow-ow! Okay, okay! I'll tell you already!! Just let go!!" the nun releases him as he rubs his redden ear.  
  
"Well?" the nun asked.  
  
"NO WAY!" he stuck his tongue out at her and ran away.  
  
"Duo! You come back here, right now!!" the nun shouted and frowns, "Geez..."  
  
----------------------------------  
  
Duo finally slows down as he entered the colony park. He rubbed his ear one more time.  
  
"Sheesh, there's nowhere safe in this place..." he muttered and turned ahead of him.  
  
His then heeds the presence not far from him. Meters from him, stood the young brunette girl, playing a flute near the fountain that stood in the middle of the green plaza. He paused as he watched her play with elegance and grace.  
  
She suddenly stops and sits on the grass, lying back on the fountain behind her.  
  
".....He knows mom..." she muttered under her breath.  
  
She then feels a presence hovering above her. She gazes up to the source, only finding a long haired brunette making faces at her. Nicole screamed in reaction and it echoed throughout the park grounds, startling Duo, making him loose his balance and fall over with a splash. Nicole quickly sat up and turned behind her.  
  
"Oops.." she muttered shyly.  
  
Nicole stands up, gathering her courage and hurled her voice at him.  
  
"What were you thinking?!" she shouted, "You scared the heck out of me!!"  
  
"I scared you?! What about me?!" Duo snapped back as he got up from the fountain, drenched with water.  
  
He began removing his jacket, squeezing as much water out of it.  
  
"Why did you have to do that?" Nicole complained in a much calmer voice.  
  
"Stop whining. I only did it to cheer you up." Duo snorted.  
  
"Cheer...me..up?" Nicole muttered in question.  
  
"Sou yo. And all the thanks I get is this." he said as he flapped his jacket around to shake some of the water out.  
  
"...Dare...desuka?" she finally asked.  
  
"I'm Duo."  
  
"Duo...I am N--"  
  
"Nicole Shiriori, desho?"  
  
"That's right....How did you know?" she sat down on the cement of the fountain.  
  
"...I-I heard from the nun. She was talking about you." he stuttered, feeling he'll be found out.  
  
"Hmmm... Really? I thought you were the one snooping around by the door of that priest not so long ago." she eyed him cautiously.  
  
Duo starts to remove his shirt. Nicole quickly turns away. Duo notices this.  
  
"What the? Aren't you suppose to be just 6?" he mumbled, "Why are you being disturbed by this?"  
  
"I knew you were the one snooping." she blurted pointing at him with one of her eyebrows raised.  
  
Duo filched.  
  
"S-Shut up!" he snapped.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------  
  
"It's been this way for a almost a year now." Nicole muttered as she sat on the fountain's ledge, "Everything's become so confusing....I gave up on trying to figure things out."  
  
"… Almost a year, huh?" Duo stared at the colonies metal sky, as he lay on the grass, by Nicole's feet.  
  
"It's become so suffocating around him."  
  
Duo sat up and turned to her.  
  
"Did you try talking to him?" Duo asked.  
  
"I did.... But as you can see, I didn't get through him." she weakly laughed, "I got my stubbornness from him, so as much as I already knew I was going to loose.... Someone in me doesn't want to give up.... But another just wants to disappear from his presence…"  
  
Duo didn't really find this a proper time to laugh, but he couldn't help it. After all, he was hearing a 6 year old talking quite seriously, so only a small smirk appeared on his mouth.  
  
"Nikky?!" a voice called from other side of the court yard.  
  
The two children turned to the source of the voice.  
  
"It's that other girl..." Duo thought, remembering the black haired 12-year- old girl who was with Nicole and her father from before.  
  
Nicole turns to him.  
  
"S-Sorry... But I really have to get going." she stood up and ran to the older girl's direction.  
  
Duo watched them disappear in to one of the halls. He scratched his head and sighed.  
  
"Just when the story gets interesting." he voiced under his breath, "Uh?"  
  
He notices the silver colored wind instrument lying in the grass.  
  
"Che! How careless." he muttered and turned to the direction the two girls disappeared in to.  
  
He stared at the instrument he held.  
  
"I guess I have to give this to her later."  
  
   
  
  -----  
  
Duo opened his eyes immediately. He was in class. The teacher was still blabbing about the history lesson and the room was filled with yawns and whispering from his fellow peers. He had fallen asleep. Incredibly, he wasn't even caught by the teacher. He sees a note on his desk. It was folded nicely and had his name on it. He opens it and read "You look sooo cute when you're sleeping ^_^!!" with a small cartoon of a short haired SD formed girl. He then hears snickering from across of him. Mai was the only one to have noticed him sound asleep. A slight smile breaks from his face out of embarrassment as Mai laughs even more. The smile faded from his face when he notices that Ayame was once again absent. He remembers the sapphire stoned silver cross that she wore. It felt so familiar.... But he wasn't sure where he once saw it.  
  
--------------------------------------------------------  
  
"She's sick?" Duo blurted, "She looked fine to me yesterday."  
  
"Tsk. Tsk." Mai sneered, "Yesterday was yesterday, today is today. There's a big difference there."  
  
"....She did look sort of pale last night." Quatre thought to himself.  
  
Duo stared at Quatre in concern, taking notice of his serious face. Quatre flinches as he takes heed of Duo's gaze.  
  
"Is there something you would like to tell us?" Duo asked.  
  
"N-No, I-I just thought that she kind of looked ill to me last night when I spoke to her."  
  
"Now that I think about it..." Mai added, "She did seem a bit stranger than usual yesterday."  
  
The two boys turn to her.  
  
"Well, if you could remember, when Ayame approached me yesterday about Elena... She did almost forget about it.... And also, last night, I saw her in the hall ways of the girls' dorms and I called her... But she didn't reply."  
  
"...Maybe she couldn't hear you." Duo suggested.  
  
"That couldn't be. I was just about three meters away from her at that time." Mai continued, "I wonder if she's really doing well.... She has been absent a lot since she came here."  
  
"Since she came here?" Quatre questioned.  
  
Mai nodded.  
  
***********************************************  
  
"How are you feeling?" Tetsuya asked as he stared at the sleepy eyed young brunette that lay on the bed beside his chair.  
  
"...What happened?" she slowly sat up, feeling her head hurt.  
  
"I don't think you should get up yet." Tetsuya implied as he tries to lay her back down.  
  
"N-No...It hurts even more when I lay down." she said as she stopped him from doing so.  
  
Tetsuya returned to the chair by the bed.  
  
"Do you want me to get some aspirin?"  
  
"You know my body's system can't take those." Ayame replied.  
  
"U-uh... Right... I forgot." Tetsuya said with a mild laugh.  
  
Ayame frowned at him. She sighed and looked around her.  
  
"How did I end up here?" she asked again.  
  
"....You fainted last night, outside the dorms. Elena found you and one of the students carried you in here."  
  
"....Students?" she thought, then asked, "…Who?"  
  
"Elena said his name is Heero. Same grade as you." he replied, "Do you remember him?"  
  
Ayame hesitated.  
  
".... Not really."  
  
Tetsuya pats her on the head. She turns to him.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked with a softer tone of voice.  
  
"N-... nothing..." she replied and turned to the floor.  
  
"By the look on your face, there is." he said, "Now, tell me…"  
  
"..... Quatre Raberba Winner...."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Have I met him somewhere before?"  
  
"I'm afraid not, but his name is pretty famous.  He's the heir to the Winner family." Tetsuya answered.  
  
"...Oh..."  
  
"Then again...." Tetsuya continued.  
  
Ayame stares at him in a matter of surprise.  
  
"Maybe you have..... In another life…" he smirked and winked at her as she glared in disappointment, hoping he would answer her more truthfully.  
  
-------------------------------------------------  
  
Time passed and Ayame was left to do nothing in her room but fiddle around with the silver necklace around her neck. Tetsuya left long ago to explain to their superiors of her situation. Elena had already checked on her five times to make sure she was still in there.  
  
"She acts exactly like Taebe.." she thought and opened the window, "How boring..."  
  
   
  
  -----  
  
Ayame was stopped by someone calling her name. She turned, only seeing a tall 19 year old woman with black hair and grayish colour of eyes in a navy blue military uniform. Her waist long hair is tied in a loose pony-tail that swung from side to side behind her as she walked towards Ayame.  
  
"Taebe-san?" she asked, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I just wanted you to hear something very important before you leave for Earth to meet Tetsuya." she replied.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"The High-Commander asked me to deliver a message."  
  
"… And?"  
  
"He said that you are to avoid contact with the 5 pilots as much as you can."  
  
"... Why does that concern me?"  
  
"Colonel Geraldo ordered the High-Commander to make sure you received this message, so I can't really give you a direct answer. But in my opinion, your contact with the Gundam pilots may give us a risk of including our group to the war."  
  
"I understand. I'll make sure that does not happen." she was about to walk away when Taebe stops her again.  
  
"Remember Dr. Grant?" she asked.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You gave her your blood sample just a week ago, correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"The reports came in.... The medicine is not working as much as she thought it would.... Ayame... You may only have 4 y--."  
  
"..... I see." she starts to walk away again.  
  
"Ayame! You still have time to leave." Taebe blurted, making her stop her movement.  
  
"Did I not ask you not to bring that up again?" Ayame muttered.  
  
"Ayame, you're 14-years-old. It's not fair for you if you let these people take away your life like this. It's just not fair."  
  
"...Taebe."  
  
"Ayame, this war does not concern you anymore."  
  
Ayame turns to her in concern.  
  
"It never did concern you since the beginning..." Taebe continued as her voice trailed off.  
  
"... Taebe-san..." Ayame said in a sympathetic voice, "I believe that you are wrong.... I believe it is the other way around. This war concerns me more than anyone else."  
  
Taebe gazed at her in surprise.  
  
"What you do not understand is what I see in my own eyes. How I see things in my point of view....." she responded with slight traces of frustration in her voice, "I cannot just stand here and watch you and the others suffer for the sake of people you do not even know. You would be the same as how you can see me. And in that way, it wouldn't be fair to me. You should know better. You were the one who taught me many things when I was but a helpless child."  
  
"B-But Ayam--"  
  
"It was you who taught me how to survive in this world, and learn the meaning of protecting those you care for." she interrupted the older woman before her, "The knowledge I had acquired from you had made me more aware and now, I can actually do something in return.... for your sake and these people."  
  
Taebe was speechless and could say nothing in return to the youngster's words.  
  
"I will not let anyone else end up like me... abandoned and used… Because this war is here.... Because this war is his fault.... I am included. I do have a responsibility in this." Ayame continued in her deadpan voice, "Because I have people I have to protect for our world's future.... it is necessary for me to be included… Even if I have to act as a pawn for the enemy. Whatever it takes, I'll protect the people of L6."  
  
".... I can never change your mind, can't I?" Taebe smiled weakly.  
  
Ayame shook her head slightly.  
  
"If you keep on trying and you might just win."  
  
"Just MIGHT?" Taebe blurted in a change of a lighter tone in her voice, "I'll do better than that, kid! Just you wait."  
  
The usual small smile broke from Ayame's pale face.  
  
"Good luck, Lt. Machiro." Taebe saluted at her.  
  
Ayame did the same and continued on towards the shuttle heading for earth.  
  
********************************************  
  
The young 7-year-old Duo stared at the silver instrument silently, as he waited for the younger child to appear again. He turned to the artificial sky of the colony.  
  
"Maybe.... she already left..." he thought.  
  
Duo's thoughts were interrupted with a harsh bang on his head. Slightly dazed from the impact, he stood in response and turned to the culprit.  
  
"W-What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he shouted.  
  
He pauses in his actions finally realizing the young girl that stood before him.  Nicole looked slightly annoyed and had a band aid on her left cheek.  
  
"Oh...! It's you..." he said, "Whoa! What happened?"  
  
"You have something that's mine." she replied, "Hand it over."  
  
"H-Huh? Oh, this you mean...." Duo stared at the instrument for a moment, then back to the girl before him.  
  
Yesterday, she was nicer and a little bit more polite, and now she's damned rude. And to think he kept the instrument safe and waited for her to return it all this time. Duo suddenly turns away from her.  
  
"What's it to ya?"  
  
"Now you want payment for it?!" Nicole blurted in outrage, "That's not fair!"  
  
"Hey, I'm the one who's homeless here! Money's necessary."  
  
Duo paused in his head. This conversation isn't taking a very good light.  
  
"HOMELESS?! Well, correct me if I'm wrong! If you are homeless, then why are you around the church all the time!?"  
  
"I just happen to like it there, okay!!"  
  
"That's not what I think at all!! You're nothing but a free loader and a pain in the neck to those people!"  
  
"F-Free loa—" Duo clenched his hands into fists, "Well excuuuuuuuuse meeeeee your royalty!! Wanna here what I think?! Acting all high and mighty just because you are a daughter of a politician! The lots of you are all the same!"  
  
"I am not acting like royalty! I just want my ---"  
  
"You're flute!! Well you can't have it back! Wanna know something else?! I'm much happier without a parent or a sitter, unlike you for instance. I got more freedom and I learn more from the people who suffer since I am one of them." Duo continued as his voice sounded almost sarcastic, "People like you don't know how much harder life is outside protected walls. You get everything you want! And what about us?! We get nothing! We loose our parents and the children who are victimized are just thrown in places like this!"  
  
"You think I'm happy this way!"  
  
"Pretty much! You get anything you want. This puny flute could probably be replaced in an inst--" Nicole suddenly tackles Duo to the ground.  
  
Nicole forces him down to the floor with all her might, sat on him and clutched on his collar with both hands tightly, almost strangling him.  
  
"L-Let go of me." Duo struggled to get her off but to much avail, she was stronger than he had expected.  
  
"What are you doing!? This looks bad, y'kn--" Duo falls silent as he finally notices that the little girl that has him pinned on the floor was crying.  
  
Her eyes shone in anger and frustration as she bit her lip as if she was keeping herself from screaming.  
  
"H-hey...C-C'mon.. You don't have to cry..." Duo whispered nervously.  
  
"Shut-up..." she said in muffled voice, "You don't know anything about me... So shut-up..."  
  
Duo was silent, letting the girl cry a little longer.  
  
"Do you actually think... I'm happy with the way things are now? ... Huh? .... Do you?" she asked, "... I had gone through hell just to keep up with a twisted life I live in.... I lost my only means of support when I was 4... my only brother... A year after, my mother dies. Soon after that, my father abandons me... I lived in a place like this long ago... But it was burned and everyone was killed... My father took me back.... But he only took me back so he can use me for his projects. Do you still believe that I am happy with a life like that?!!" Nicole shouted angrily.  
  
Duo stared at her, shocked by her sudden words.  
  
"People like you… You always assume…" she muttered between sobs, "No one bothers to understand… No one bothers to know the truth…"  
  
Her grip on his collar loosened as she got off him. Duo stands up slowly beside her, who was wiping the tears away from her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt.  His eyes widened as he noticed several bruises all over her arms and at the side of her neck.  
  
"..Nicole... W-What... happened to you?"  
  
She gazed at him with out a change of emotion in her eyes, still consumed by her anger. With one last look, she ran away from him without saying another word. Duo scratched his head and frowned.  
  
"Damn it.... What happened to her..?" he looked at the silver flute he held with his left hand, "....I was suppose to give this back...I'm so stupid."  
  
Duo's eyes suddenly widened. He turned to the direction where Nicole had ran to and clutched at the silver instrument angrily.  
  
"Why that little...!?" Duo muttered and dashed after her, "She took my watch!!"  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Duo sat by the fountain, cursing under his breath as he caught no sight of the little girl again.  
  
"Damn that girl. Should have known better than to trust someone like her." he muttered.  
  
"'Bout time you learned." a voice said followed by a loud thud on Duo's head.  
  
Nicole was now sitting on the cement railing of the fountain near Duo, who was clutching at his head where a small bump was forming.  
  
"What the hell are you doi--" Duo paused in his words noticing the Bible Nicole was holding, "Don't you know that it's bad to hit people with those things?"  
  
"Tsk. Tsk." she shook her pointer finger at him, "The words of God have the power to smite evil from all people, whatever their beliefs maybe."  
  
Duo frowned at her response.  
  
"It's still isn't an excuse for hitting me with it." he said to her.  
  
"Really?" she asked and stared at the book, "I thought it was a very good excuse... The head nun here said you like Death better than God. I think hitting you with it is a good reason."  
  
Duo sat back down and stared at the synthetic sky.  
  
"....May I have it back." Nicole asked.  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"The flute. May I have it back?"  
  
Duo stood up and handed her the flute as she handed him his watch. He sat beside her and gazed at the ground.  
  
".. I hope you don't mind me asking... but..."  
  
"Oh!  This?" Nicole gestured at her arms.  
  
Duo nodded.  
  
"I got into a fight." she replied casually.  
  
"EH?!!  With who?"  
  
"... A bunch of street kids.  Cecilia-san took care of them though." she smiled.  
  
"What an idiot." Duo smirked as Nicole began to laugh as well.  
  
They both turned to the sky once again.  
  
"So...... Why is that flute so important to you?" he finally asked.  
  
"... My mother used to play this when she was younger. When she was eleven... Here, there is an inscription." she pointed at the engraving on the lower portion of the instrument.  
  
"So that's the most important thing to you..." he muttered.  
  
Nicole shook her head.  
  
"I have this." she removed a silver necklace from her neck.  
  
On that very same necklace hung a silver cross with a blue sapphire stone in the middle.  
  
"The cross of God and the jewel is called An Angel's Tear." she said proudly as she handed it to Duo, "My older brother gave it to me. He said that it would protect me because the jewel shines where ever it goes.... He told me, he'd find me where ever I may be… As long as I have this on... Surely I'll meet him again..."  
  
Duo remembers the words Nicole threw at him.  
  
-"I lost my only means of support when I was 4... my only brother..."-  
  
He stared at the cross silently then to Nicole who sat beside him in deep thought.  
  
".. You actually believe he's coming back...Don't you?" Duo asked.  
  
Nicole nodded, not even bothering to turn back at him.  
  
"If not one way.... then another... I will find him, what ever it takes." she said in a soft voice, "Even if living in Hell will bring me to him... I will gladly do so."  
  
Duo watched her in concern, in deep thought.  
  
-"For a brother you truly love and can never get back.... Denial is you only means of comfort... But you have so much to live for... So many things you can do alone and accomplish... So why are so willing to let go of your life so easily?"-  
  
"It'll be great when that time comes." Nicole smiled.  
  
-"... And the things... Those things I said to you..."-  
  
Nicole stared at him in worry.  
  
"Is something wrong?" she asked.  
  
"N-Not really." Duo laughed.  
  
-"God.... I'm so stupid."-  
  
to be continued....  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Jessi-chan: How's that one? Cute? Annoying? takes out a semi automatic pellet machine gun and points to readersOr just plain stupid?  
  
Mae-chan: W-Where did you get that?  
  
Jessi-chan: *proudly* The dollar store! It comes with bullets too! takes out a small bag of rubber pellets from her back pack  
  
Mae-chan: O-Okay. I think I~'ll go stand a liiiiittle bit further from you.  
  
Jessi-chan: pointing the gun all over the room Nwahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa!!  
  
Mae-chan: Since Jessi-chan is busy playing with her new toy..... Again I am left to be the one to thank the lot of you for keeping up with us. Please e- mail us for comments and suggestions. Better yet, leave us a review! Bye- bye now!  
  
   
  
   
  
END 


	4. Chapter 4: Revelation of Freedom

GUNDAM--WING  
  
LOST PROMISES  
  
CHAPTER 4  
  
DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:  
  
Jessi-chan: Eheh...so many things we got to explain, but we don't know how to start....So we'll keep it short and simple.  
  
Mae-chan: Just like always, we don't own the series, but we're still writing the fic!!  
  
Jessi-chan: This fic is only for the enjoyment of Gundam fans everywhere and we're not making any money out of itsucks.                                  
  
Mae-chan: We appreciate your support and positive comments for our first attemp fic *^_^* !!!!. Enjoy!  
  
Reminder: This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information are wrong and never existed in the series.  
  
   
  
   
  
REVELATION OF FREEDOM  
  
"So... It's almost time." Tetsuya muttered to Ayame, who was sitting not far from him.  
  
"Three days from now. Exactly at midnight." Ayame continued, "It'll finally be over."  
  
"Did you find the other two?" Tetsuya asked.  
  
Ayame nodded.  
  
"One is a new face.... The other is most definitely..." Ayame stood from her seat and took her bag off the table.  
  
"Setsuko?"  
  
"Yes." Ayame replied as she walked to the door, "I have to go. I'll be late for class."  
  
The door closes and silence fills the room.  
  
"... Just as you said Taebe, she's not improving at all..." Tetsuya blurted with a change of tone.  
  
The laptop's screen blinks open and a woman about 18 years in age appeared. Her long black hair covered a part of the right side of her face and part of her right eye, which were in a color of carbon black.  
  
"Four years after she woke up, she's still the same..... Maybe the nano- technology is messing up her personality...." she sighed.  
  
"Are you sure the cause is not hanging out with you people?" Tetsuya asked sarcastically.  
  
"We heard that!" a second screen opens and reveals a young girl that almost looks exactly like Ayame, except for her shorter hair and green eyes.  
  
"Yo, Kiome-chan! How ya doin'?" Tetsuya smiled, "Lookin' pretty as always I see!"  
  
"Sucking up won't get you out of this one, Midaki-kun..." Kiome frowned.  
  
"Kiome, get out of here!" Taebe shouted.  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." the second screen disappears.  
  
".... Mou..." Taebe muttered angrily, "So, what are you planning to do now?"  
  
"Well, in three days, we are all considered free... Sooo, I guess we go back to L-6." Tetsuya replied as he laid back his chair.  
  
".... Are you sure it's smart to relax now? You only have three days to catch Leon's follower..... Not to mention that you still have those three to worry about."  
  
"........."  
  
"Nee, Tetsu?"  
  
".... Nantoka naru." he calmly answered, not loosing his uppity tone of voice.  
  
"Tetsu... What about..."  
  
"Aya? Don't worry about her. I'll make sure she returns safely. I'm not going to let any of those three to influence her in anyway...well... Not unless it has a positive affect..."  
  
"Aren't you being a bit over protective?"  
  
"Nope...." Tetsuya plainly answered as his tone of voice suddenly turned serious, "Loosing Aya... goes against the oath I took and everything I believe in."  
  
".... I understand what you feel.... But don't let those feelings bother you too much." Taebe advised, "Anyway, I gotta go. Bye, Tetsu."  
  
Tetsuya smiled as the comm. link closed.  
  
"YO! Ayame!!" Duo voice echoed from outside.  
  
Tetsuya walked towards the window and watched the brunette with the braid approach Ayame, followed by a blonde boy. His emerald eyes deepened in concern as he caught sight of the third boy. The boy has wild brown hair and piercing eyes.  
  
"Is that.... Odin's kid?" he muttered under his breath.  
  
Heero senses the pair of eyes watching him and his comrades. He turned to the man standing by the open window of the room above them. Catching sight of each other, both of their reactions became cold as both leered at each other coldly. Heero turns away as Duo calls him.  
  
"We're going to be late for class!" Duo shouted with the usual grin.  
  
Heero turned back to the window, only to find that the man had already disappeared. He then decided to followed the other two silently, hiding what had just happened. The young 14-year-old girl didn't move from were she was as she stared up at where Tetsuya once stood.  
  
"............."  
  
"OI! Ayame!!" Duo called once again.  
  
"... Urusai..." she muttered under her breath and followed them to the main building.  
  
***********************  
  
"Omezarashi, Ayame-san." Mai uttered in bewilderment.  
  
Ayame and Duo turn to her.  
  
"You're actually here for class."  
  
".......... It's because I'm feeling better."  
  
".... But still..." Mai uttered innocently, "It's weird."  
  
Ayame frowned at her remark as Duo snickered at her reaction. Ayame suddenly notices the other pairs of eyes that watched her with disbelief. She stared at all of them coldly with her piercing chestnut eyes, making them flinch and turn the other way.  
  
"You're all the same." she grumbled as she turned back to the open textbook on her desk.  
  
****************  
  
"Midaki, Tetsuya. Age 19. One of the youngest Commanders in the reserve OZ Forces." Heero uttered as he read the file that appeared in his laptop to Quatre who was standing by him.  
  
Duo was lounging on the bed as he listens to the conversation.  
  
"19, huh?" Duo grinned, "Almost the same as that Zechs guy."  
  
Heero snorted at his remark.  
  
"But it he's done a lot of strange things." Quatre added as he pointed at a certain section in the screen, "It says that in the past, he refused every offer the OZ officers had given him for a higher rank."  
  
"The reason being?" Duo asked.  
  
"That every rank they offer him is someone who works for OZ.... permanently." Quatre replied.  
  
"So there was a chance that this guy was actually aware of the coup d'etat developing in the Federation government?"  
  
"Most probably." Quatre continued, "But it gets even more interesting."  
  
Duo sat up on the bed and turned to their direction.  
  
"What?"  
  
"His history with OZ doesn't start till A.C. 193. How could he have climbed up so far in the ranks within only two years? Ayame-san, in the other hand, has been with the Federation Army since A.C. 191 and she's still under the rank 'lieutenant'."  
  
"That can't be right." Duo blurted, "Wouldn't that mean that Ayame has been with the army since she was 10?"  
  
"......... That's what the files say."  
  
"... Maybe that's why she's so corrupted," he muttered to himself, "Poor girl."  
  
"Um.... Duo... That's besides the point...."  
  
"Leave him." Heero interrupted, "You'll only waste your time."  
  
**********************  
  
"As much as Duo may wander from one topic to another.... He did have a point..." Quatre said to Heero, who was sitting on a bench outside the Boy's dorms, "That would mean Ayame would have worked for the Federation since she was 10..."  
  
"Un." Heero merely replied with a slight nod.  
  
"Then Ayame may have been adopted when she was younger."  
  
"That's highly unlikely to be true." Heero interrupted.  
  
"Eh?! W-What do you mean?" Quatre stuttered.  
  
"No, it's nothing... Anyway, we should focus more on Midaki, Tetsuya's case." Heero got up from the bench and walked away.  
  
"R-Right..." Quatre muttered and watched his companion leave.  
  
*********************  
  
Duo yawned and lay back on the railing.  
  
"Man, this little mission is making me much more tired than usual..." he sighed.  
  
"AH!" a voice blurted from across the room, "There you are!"  
  
Mai smiled while she stood by the doorway of the school building's roof.  
  
"Yo!" Duo greeted.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked as she approached him and sat beside him.  
  
"I just came out to get some fresh air."  
  
"Hmm.. I guess the classrooms can get a lil bit stuffy from all the tension and the noise."  
  
"No, just the thought of going to class makes it annoying." Duo jokingly remarked.  
  
Mai laughed and smiled at him.  
  
"Hey, let's get something to eat in the caf."  
  
"What's this? Are you asking me out on a date?" he grinned.  
  
"Something like that." she laughed again, "But in friendly terms, k?"  
  
"Let's go then."  
  
*************************  
  
Quatre didn't know why he ended up in front of Ayame's door. One minute he was just wandering outside, the next, he was in the girl's dorm. The door suddenly opens, as Quatre was about to turn tail and walk back to his room. He froze as she heard Ayame's voice.  
  
"Oh! Quatre-san. What are you doing here?" she asked in her usual mono- toned voice.  
  
"U-Uh.... W-W-e-ell." Quatre stuttered, stunned by Ayame's sudden appearence.  
  
That same unnoticeable, small smile appeared on her face, seeing then the blonde young boy was completely at a loss for words. Her hair was in a loose ponytail as the hair on the side of her face slightly covers her cheeks. Her slender body was clearly shaped by the black tank top with the spaghetti straps with a short-sleeved white polo shirt over it and khaki pants that she was wearing. It was unusual to see Ayame in this sudden change of clothes. Usually, she would be wearing the school clothes and not the modern clothes young teenage girls wear.  
  
"Since you're already here, why don't you come in?" she asked as she opened the door completely.  
  
".... But I --" before he could finish, Ayame had grabbed his hand and led him in to the room.  
  
"Take a seat." she said as she walked into the next room.  
  
Quatre was bewildered by his surroundings as he took a seat by the small coffee table with two chairs by the window. The room was huge. It was almost the size of a fairly expensive hotel suite. There was a double size bed at one corner of the room with pinkish puple satin and cotton sheets and a small cabinet with a lamp on top of it by the bed. At the other corner was a closet in the wall. There was also another table, not to far from him with drawers. It also had some stacked up papers, some pens and pencils in a cup, a telephone, and a blue cerulean vase with purple irises elegantly arranged in them. The walls also had at least three paintings of beautiful scenarios hanging on them. There was also another door besides the opening to the next room. By the looks of it, it was a bathroom. The next room was actually a small kitchen. That wasn't too surprising, even his room and his companions' have one. This was one hell of a rich school.  
  
"Would you like something to drink? Tea maybe?" she asked from the other room.  
  
"U-Uh, sure! Thanks." he replied.  
  
Not soon after, Ayame comes in with a tray, bearing a small teapot with two matching white porcelain cups, and two matching containers that had the sugar and milk. There was also a small plate of tea cookies and another with a sliced piece of lemon. She set them down on the coffee table, but opened the window first before she settled down to her seat. Somehow, this was all surprising to Quatre.  
  
"Wow. I can't believe you went through so much trouble." he smiled.  
  
"Being with the people I work for, I've learned to take responsibility in my own ways." Ayame said in return.  
  
"Are you talking about the military?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Sort of." she sighed, "Since I'm a lieutenant, I have higher authority than those who are usually with me. I've somehow developed a sibling complex towards the people around me. Even the commander, I feel like I have to take care of him as well. Isn't it weird?"  
  
Quatre smiled.  
  
"Not at all. I think that's very sweet of you." he replied.  
  
Ayame frowned.  
  
"What do you mean 'sweet'?" she asked.  
  
"Wars usually can bring the worst out of soldiers and even normal people, but with you around, I think they're glad they still have an anchor to reality."  
  
"... I hope not." she sighed again, "I don't know how much of this war I can handle." her eyes deepened in color, "Sooner or later, I might go mad as well."  
  
"... Ayame...." he muttered in concern as he stared at her solemn face.  
  
".... What are you looking at? We better hurry up before the tea gets cold." she blurted in a lighter tone of voice.  
  
"Y-Yes, I guess we should." he laughed.  
  
He took a sip of the tea only noticing a few signs of disappearing scars all over Ayame's hands. Ayame saw his gaze placed upon them and slowly wrapped one hand over the other to cover the scars.  
  
"T-This is really good." Quatre said, trying to change the subject.  
  
"Really? Thanks." she said as that same small smile appeared on her face.  
  
"That face again...." she thought, "How come I can't stop staring at him? Why do I feel like I've seen him before?"  
  
"By, the way." Quatre uttered suddenly.  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"This room is really big compared to the ones we have." he gestured at the space in the room.  
  
"It's the reward of being an OZ officer." she said in somewhat of a depressing tone.  
  
"Something bothering you?" Quatre asked.  
  
"... No." she replied, "What makes you think that?"  
  
Quatre noticed her hesitation. He then said something that shocked himself. Just by saying it, he wanted to kick himself for just doing so.  
  
"You're not happy about working for OZ are you?" his mouth automatically asked.  
  
It was just something he was thinking in his mind and had eventually escaped his mouth by accident. Her eyes deepened once again as she heard his words.  
  
"I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't mean to ask such a thi--" Quatre stuttered.  
  
"It's alright." Ayame interrupted, "You are right. I never wanted to work for the Federation, or OZ. I just wanted to stay back home where the people I grew up with are."  
  
She was watching the reflection of the ceiling on the surface of the tea in her cup as Quatre sat there silently, in shock of her reply.  
  
"But it wasn't like that so, I thought that with a little endurance, I can go through this momentary hell and return to them. As always, I was wrong." she muttered in her deadpan voice, "That 'momentary hell' ended up being 4 years of killing and being used by others."  
  
"........."  
  
"But it will soon be over. In three days.... Exactly at midnight." she sighed in slight relief, "I can't wait to go home and see them all again..."  
  
Quatre was silent as he just sat there, watching her unemotional face as her pale skin was high-lighted by the light entering from the window. The loose hair from her pony-tail was gently swaying with the breeze. It felt like one of those peaceful moments... But it was like the ones that you wish would never end. Quatre felt his heart beating loudly, loud enough to muffle his ears. He found a new perspective for her, a type of higher respect, much better than just being a friend to confide in. This girl… This angel with darkened wings… This.... Ayame.... was more than meets the eye. She has secrets greater than anyone he's known… maybe even more than Heero. He wanted to know her. He wanted to know what those secrets were, and maybe.... just maybe.... be the one to make that missing smile appear upon her face for good and not like the momentary ones she usually has.  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
A small grin appeared on Tetsuya's mouth as he caught sight of the two conversing by the open window. He turned back towards the direction he just came from and took out a cell phone out of his jacket.  
  
"Yo, Taebe." he said in a malicious tone to the person on the other line, "I got news for you..... No, not about that! Yeah...It's already been confirmed.... Something quite interesting.... It's not just Odin's kid after all...The Maxwell boy and Mr. Winner's boy...There isn't any problems yet."  
  
He stopped and laid back on one of the trees in the school grounds to get away from the hot sun that shone above the sky.  
  
"Heh, no. They're not getting in the way, not mine's anyway...It's interesting...You sure you want to know?......" he took one last glimpse on the open window as his grin grew wider, "Well then, guess who's hitting on Aya..."  
  
***********************  
  
Ayame got up from her bed and walked towards the window. She stared at the view outside in silence.  
  
"... Two more days...." she thought.  
  
Her pondering was interrupted when the phone on the desk suddenly rang. She answered it immediately.  
  
"Yes... Tetsuya.... I see... Right now? All right.... I'll be right there."  
  
She hung up the phone and walked to the closet. She opened it and took out her military uniform as her eyes once again deepened as she stared at it in her arms.  
  
-------  
  
"You're not happy about working for OZ are you?"  
  
"... No. What makes you think that?"  
  
-------  
  
Her conversation with Quatre yesterday echoed in her mind as she also began to wonder herself.  
  
"... If you hated working for OZ, why didn't you leave in the first place?" she asked herself.  
  
She returned to the window as she heard a flapping sound outside and placed the uniform on top of the coffee table. She opened the window slowly; trying not to scare whatever was there. Beneath the windowsill was a white dove, lounging on the ledge. It caught site of the new presence above it and flew on to the window's ledge, right in front of Ayame. She gazed at it in silence.  
  
"... Ohayo." she greeted in her deadpan voice as she took the white creature in to her hands, "You're a brave one.... You're not afraid of humans at all..."  
  
The dove stared at her and its new surrounding in wonderment. Ayame held her hands out, with the dove, outside as the creature flew off in to the infinite sky. The sad look in her eyes returned as she saw the bird fly in to the heavens.  
  
"... I wish I am as free as you are...." she muttered as the figure of the white gentle creature disappeared in to the distance.  
  
-----------------------------  
  
Mai watched the three boys silently from her room's window. The three were eventually conversing not too far from the girls' dorms and by the looks on their faces; they were talking about something serious.  
  
"Mai Ann, try to pay more attention to your work." a voice from within the room called.  
  
There was another woman in her room. She looks like she's about 18 or 19 and she wore the uniform for senior students. She has dirty blonde hair and deep amber eyes.  
  
"Yes, sis." she muttered taking one last glimpse on the trio.  
  
The young woman took note of that and smiled.  
  
"Do you like one of those boys?" she asked.  
  
"Elena-neesan!!" she shouted as her face completely turned red.  
  
Elena giggled.  
  
"Sooo….Which one of the three is it?"  
  
"Shigau!! I'm concerned!"  
  
"Concerned?" Elena asked, "About what?"  
  
"... Quatre Raberba Winner.... Isn't he the heir of the Winner family?"  
  
Elena frowned in relation of the youngster's words.  
  
"...It's been bothering me for awhile now.... But why is the next head of the Winner family here?" Mai questioned, "Is he and the other two here for her?"  
  
The older woman turned to the direction of where the three boys were.  
  
"... Probably.... But I hope not..." Elena muttered.  
  
"... Sis.."  
  
"... The last thing we need is to get included with this war permanently..."  
  
Mai joined her companion's gaze out the window.  
  
".... Sou nee..."  
  
---------------------------------------------  
  
"So you didn't find anything out?" Duo asked.  
  
Quatre shook his head in response.  
  
"None what so ever.."  
  
"... Do you know anyone who may be connected to her?" Heero asked the two.  
  
"... There's that Elena person." Quatre suggested.  
  
"And then, there's that creepy black haired guy who hangs out with her sometimes. That Tetsuya guy." Duo added.  
  
Heero somehow flinched a little at what Duo had just said, but not small enough to go unnoticed.  
  
"Doshitano, Heero?" Quatre asked in concern.  
  
".... It's nothing." he replied.  
  
"Really now, Heero. I'm hurt." a voice remarked behind them.  
  
All eyes turn to the figure not too far from them. Tetsuya wore malicious grin on his face as he approached the group.  
  
"What do you want?" Duo asked just as Tetsuya stopped about two meters away from him.  
  
"Nothing really. I just thought it would be nice to have a little walk outside… but then…" he paused, keeping that impish smile, "I saw you three, hanging about. So now, I'm just wondering what a bunch of Gundam pilots, like you, are doing here." He casually replied.  
  
Duo and Quatre seemed shocked at what this stranger had just uttered. Heero in the other hand only bared the look of hate for this man.  
  
"I have a question myself." Heero interrupted.  
  
"What?" Tetsuya turned to him.  
  
"Why are you and Machiro here?"  
  
A pause came between the two as Quatre and Duo watched them without a clue what the hell was going on.  
  
"... Classified information." Tetsuya blurted, "... Try not to come near her too much. Jinnai might get angry."  
  
He winked at them then casually walked away.  
  
"Aw, man. This guy is starting to annoy me." Duo frowned.  
  
"Is it all right if I ask? Or is it best for me not to know?" Quatre said to their brooding companion.  
  
"Ever heard of the Solarian Government?" Heero asked.  
  
"That's the government that was in control of the L6 and 7 colonies about 60 to 80 years ago... but it was destroyed by the earth alliance after they declared independence from the present earth government. But even at that… there hasn't been much about the real history behind it. Like, who started the war, or who lead the movement for independence… But undoubtedly, that government was destroyed."  
  
"That's a lie... The Solarian government still exists..."  
  
"W-What?!!"  
  
"The Solarian government still exists in the L6 colonies... as well as the remnants of the L7 colonies..."  
  
"Remenants... the L7 colonies were destroyed in that war... are still…" Quatre muttered.  
  
"The L7 colonies ARE gone from orbit... during the war, they crashed into the closest planet... Which was Mars.." Heero frowned as he turned towards the direction Tetsuya Midaki had taken.  
  
"..Midaki, Tetsuya..." Heero muttered in his mono-toned voice, "I met him before..."  
  
"Obviously..." Duo cocked an eyebrow as he looked at Heero, "He seemed typically familiar with you. He seems to know us too. But what I don't understand is if you knew him in the first place, why didn't you tell us?"  
  
"I don't know him as well as you think... When I was younger.. I met someone by the name of Midaki, Kaworu. That man was Kaworu's older brother."  
  
"Was?" Quatre asked.  
  
"I recently heard that Kaworu died about 2 years ago. Tetsuya was already a Lt. when I met him. Kaworu was an intelligence officer. That was such a long time ago.."  
  
"Heero..."  
  
"... Even that girl was still alive back then..." he whispered under his breath, but loud enough for his two companions to hear.  
  
They stared at Heero in concern as silence gloomed over the air.  
  
***   
  
"Looks like everything's going according to plan..." Tetsuya grinned as he watched the three 15 year olds at a safe distance away.  
  
"It'll only be awhile till everything ends..." another figure with a feminine voice, who stood by Tetsuya, muttered.  
  
"Yeah.. You're right. This is our final gift for the kindness Earth and its people gave us... And after that... We'll be free."  
  
   
  
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@  
  
Jessi-chan and Mae-chan: *together* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooo!  
  
Jessi-chan: *snicker* Heero has a secret! Heero has a secret!  
  
Mae-chan: That's nothing new though!  
  
Jessi-chan: Anywhooo~ Read the next one for the continuation!! Bye-bye!  
  
END 


	5. Chapter 5: Truth

GUNDAM--WING  
  
LOST PROMISES  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:  
  
Jessi-chan: Well, here's chapter 5.  
  
Mae-chan: Well continuing with this…. It seems that this fic really has headed to a Quatre-Ayame pairing. It's a bit of a Mary-Jane, but just to reassure you, Ayame's not really based on anyone we know. Not even us. *Jessi-chan whines in the background*  
  
Jessi-chan: Planning Ayame's personality and even an actually character design took a lot of work. To tell you the truth we've worked on this fic since we were both in grade 7.  
  
Mae-chan: But, after Jess re-read the old chapters, she was really irritated by it, so we re-wrote and planned year after year to make the perfect Ayame and then followed Tetsuya and the others. We're actually planning to continue this fic with an independent storyline about Ayame. It will be interesting rest assured.  
  
Jessi-chan: It's mostly in my head right now, but I have a few notebooks with some planning stuff written out already. I just need to type it out. The major problem is seeing if I can read my writing from 6 years ago. Lol!  
  
Mae-chan: Baka… Anyway, disclaimer time! The original characters of Gundam Wing all belong to their designated owners and no, we're not making any money out of this fic. Too much further a due! Chapter 5!!  
  
Reminder: This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information are wrong and never existed in the series.  
  
  
  
Truth  
  
Ayame opened the curtains and let the warm light of the sun enter her room. She stared wearily outside as students of the school had already began to get out of their dorms.  
  
"Finally… It's tomorrow." She muttered to herself, "Our final day on Earth…"  
  
She released the lock of the window and pushed it open, feeling the breeze from the sea gently waft her hair.  
  
"Somehow… I'm going to miss it." She stared at the horizon of the blue waters and grimaced. "I guess I should say good bye to him."  
  
  
  
"I see. It's tomorrow is it?" Elena asked in a slightly disappointed tone.  
  
"Yeah. We've all been waiting for this day for about a century." Tetsuya replied.  
  
"Tomorrow, L7's connections to Earth and the other colonies will be officially severed officially… but besides that…"  
  
"Ayame will be free to choose her fate…"  
  
Silence came between the two young adults.  
  
"Tetsuya… what if… What if all this hard work ends up all for nothing?" Elena blurted to him.  
  
"W-What are you talking about?" he asked worriedly.  
  
"…What if the young mistress… What if Ayame decides to sever her connections with L7? What if she decides to stay here on Earth? What if she decides to die tomorrow?!"  
  
Tetsuya turned away from her.  
  
"There's nothing we can do about that… The young mistress will carry her fate herself tomorrow. Once it strikes 12 that night… Ayame is no longer OZ's… nor is she ours. To what path she takes after tomorrow, to continue on living, or to give up on her life, it's all up to her then."  
  
"But still… Ayame… if Ayame decides to leave L7's army… They'll still kill her… Tetsuya, you can't let her--"  
  
"I know!!" Tetsuya interrupted, "I know… already… But Ayame probably already made her decision."  
  
***********************************************  
  
Duo closed the door behind him and walked to Quatre and Heero, who were both busily looking through some files with their laptops. Quatre turned to him as he closed the door.  
  
"Duo." He smiled.  
  
"You're late." Heero uttered in his usual deadpan voice.  
  
"Sorry. I got held up." Duo replied as he pulled a chair over to them and sat down.  
  
"With that Mai kid no doubt." Heero said disdainfully.  
  
Duo threw a glare at him.  
  
"Well, unlike what you think I found something important."  
  
"Important?" Quatre repeated, "What is it?"  
  
Duo smiled and took out a disk from his pocket. Quatre and Heero exchanged glances and looked at their braided brunette companion again.  
  
"What is that?" Quatre asked.  
  
Heero took the disk and ran it in his laptop. Quatre and Heero's eyes widened as a whole load of information flashed before their eyes.  
  
"T-This is…" Quatre muttered.  
  
"Information about the lost colonies… Level 7." Duo continued.  
  
"AC 102, more than a century after the first colony was created, the Mars area colonies were completed under the supervision of a man by the name of Jonathan Rembrandt. A year later, the citizens of L7 voted him into the Government council. Two years later, Rembrandt agreed to sign the 'Federation Union' the government of Earth had offered. Unsatisfied of his decision, the citizens of L7 revolted against the government and many riots broke out causing a civil war between and within each colony. AC 107, a headstrong leader rose from the ashes and the shed blood of the people of L7, a man by the name of Nathaniel Mizuno. In AC 110, an opposing group assassinated Nathaniel Mizuno. He was 24." Quatre read from the screen as Heero suddenly stood up from his seat.  
  
"Duo… where did you find this?" Heero asked in an angered tone.  
  
"Mai gave me that disk." Duo replied casually, showing no concern or signs of intimidation to Heero's tone of voice, "She also told me something else."  
  
Quatre looked at the both of them worriedly.  
  
"W-What's wrong with you two?" he asked.  
  
"Heero… You know who Ayame Machiro truly is, don't you?" Duo asked in a serious manner, "And you undoubtedly know everything about L7."  
  
"Why you…" Heero growled.  
  
"Duo, stop it." Quatre pleaded.  
  
"Mai doesn't know the rest about you, but that Elena woman or Tetsuya Midaki should." Duo continued, "But what do you know about Ayame, Heero? Is it true she's related to Nicole Shiriori?"  
  
Quatre instantly turned to Heero.  
  
Ayame paused, as she was about to knock on the door and stood in front of it in silence.  
  
"Heero… You know about Nicole?" he said in a strained voice.  
  
Heero let out a sigh.  
  
"There are some things you wouldn't understand about her. And there are certain things I cannot say." He replied and sat back down, "Ayame Machiro is an assassin trained by the surviving government of L7 ever since she was 9. Because of the war between Tomoko Shiriori and the Federation forces, the L7 government gave their 10 best-trained soldiers to them. Those soldiers were teenagers, or children. Within that 10 is Tetsuya and his younger brother Kaoru Midaki, Kiome Saku, Naru Inukumo, Elena and Leon Rosenberg, Mai Ann Nanami, Kitty Li, Yotaro Shizuma, and then… Ayame Machiro. Each one of them is a trained professional killer. But there was a downfall to the deal. The man they made the arrangement with was actually the future leader of the Romafeller Foundation. A man named Duke Dermal. In AC 192 the leader of the L7 government, Geraldo Mizuno became aware of the existence that a Coup de tat was planned to occur within the Federation government in a few years time. He quickly acted against them and complained to Dermal. He said that there was no way those young soldiers will ever be allowed to take part in such a masochist ideal. Dermal then reminded him of the conditions of the deal. If Geraldo Mizuno backed out, the treaty between Earth and L7 would be broken, but Dermal then changed the deal to something else either ways. He said he only needed one of the soldiers. And that was Ayame. Mizuno was afraid of making war with the whole army of the Federation, let alone the colonies they had already taken over. So he agreed. The 9 other soldiers were dismissed."  
  
"So Ayame's been working for OZ all that time because of that." Duo muttered to himself.  
  
"And… what of her connection to Nicole Shiriori?" Quatre asked eagerly.  
  
Heero looked at him. He had sensed Quatre's willingness to find the truth about Ayame since the beginning. He grimaced.  
  
"From what I've been told… Ayame Machiro was responsible for the death of Nicole Shiriori." Heero uttered. "That's all I can tell you… That's all I know…"  
  
Quatre and Duo looked at Heero in shock.  
  
"Y-You're kidding about that… right?" Duo stuttered, "There's got to be a mistake!"  
  
Heero kept the serious looks in his eyes.  
  
"I… I can't believe…" Quatre sat back on his seat feeling a slight pain in his chest.  
  
"Quatre…" Duo looked at their blonde companion with sympathy.  
  
Duo and Heero turned to the door as they heard a soft thud on the door. They exchanged glances and Duo walked to the door cautiously. He opened it and saw nothing. Bewildered, he closed the door and attended to Quatre who was still sitting silently by the desk.  
  
Ayame fell to her knees breathing heavily. The moment Heero uttered that she was responsible for Nicole Shiriori's death; she automatically ran away from the door. She was in the lobby of the girls' dormitory before the pain in her chest became unbearable.  
  
"Ungh…" her sight blurred as everything before her disappeared and fell unconscious on to the cold floor.  
  
***************************************************  
  
She felt a gentle hand stroking her hair back. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Tetsuya sitting on her bed, beside her.  
  
"Tetsuya… What… happened to me?" Ayame asked.  
  
"You fainted." He replied and smiled at her weakly.  
  
"Oh." She slowly sat up with Tetsuya's help.  
  
She turned to look at him, only seeing his deep green eyes burying into her. He looked like he was in pain, as well as angered… frustrated… concerned…sad…  
  
"Why are you looking at me like that?" she finally inquired feeling quite uneasy in his confusing gaze.  
  
Tetsuya then pulled her towards him and embraced her tightly, leaving her bewildered for a moment.  
  
"You idiot… You shouldn't be crying…" she brushed her hand on his hair, "You shouldn't cry… you're a male for god's sakes…"  
  
Tetsuya remained silent, unmoving before her. She knew exactly why he would react like this. It wasn't so long ago when Kaworu died. All three of them, including Kiome Saku and Yotaro Shizuma, were inseparable when they were younger. That was during her training in the L7 colonies under General Matreya's command. How long has it been anyway? How long has it been since she started her training, since she arrived in earth, since…Kaworu died… Ayame returned to her sense as she felt the man embracing her move slightly. Her eyes softened.  
  
"I'm alright… Don't worry… I'm fine…" she hushed in his ear, "You're acting just like him… It's disturbing…"  
  
"Shut up." Tetsuya finally muttered angrily.  
  
Ayame sighed again and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"I'm sorry… to have worried you, Tetsu-niichan."  
  
She turned to the window as she continued to hold Tetsuya in her arms.  
  
"I'm responsible for Nicole's death…" her eyes deepened in color as she continued to think to herself, "Everything's going as you planned, Nicky… You've gotten away with it… You've proven you do own me after all… This body… This life… It was never meant for me. You just did it to watch me suffer… You created me… and now… They believe I killed you…"  
  
She buried her face on to Tetsuya's shoulder.  
  
"Tell me Nicky… What do you really want from me? What do you want me to do? … When will you finally let me go?"  
  
*********************************************************  
  
Quatre looked at the watch hanging on the wall. It was already 3:00 pm. He decided to miss his classes today and avoided leaving his room at any cost. He didn't want to see her. His heart wouldn't let him.  
  
"Funny isn't it Nicky… I actually thought she was you." He muttered to himself.  
  
He sat up and stared outside. Even though Heero had said that… it was too much for him to believe. Quatre had to hear it from her own mouth. He clenched his hands in to fists.  
  
"I… I have to know the truth." He got up and walked out the door.  
  
Ayame set the pen she was using down and turned to the door as she heard a knock.  
  
"Who is it?" she asked.  
  
"It's me…" a familiar voice replied.  
  
"Quatre-san…" she thought, "Come in."  
  
She got off the bed as Quatre entered the room.  
  
"It's been awhile." She said to him.  
  
Quatre forced a smile on his face and nodded.  
  
"Would you like something to drink?"  
  
"No. I just needed to talk to you."  
  
"Oh… Sure…"  
  
Once again, Quatre entered the magnificent room. Nothing had changed. It was clean, almost too clean… as if nothing even had been touched or moved. He turned around to see Ayame sitting quietly on one of the chairs beside the small table by the window where they once sat down and talked to each other about her life in the federation army. She stared at him with those similar cold yet calm eyes, waiting for him to speak. Quatre paused and studied her a bit more, and then finally, he took in all the courage he could muster and start his own interrogation.  
  
"Ayame… Remember when I talked about Nicole Shiriori?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, your good friend, right?" she replied without a sign of concern in her voice or face.  
  
"Yeah… You said you never met her…" the tone of his voice lowered, and then paused, watching Ayame.  
  
Ayame continued to stare at him with an unreadable face.  
  
Continuing, Quatre finally said, "You lied, didn't you?"  
  
There was a pause of total silence. Quatre regretted asking that. He didn't want to hear it, but he also wanted to at the same time… He was afraid of what the reply would be. Ayame closed her eyes, let out a silent sigh, then looked at Quatre.  
  
"Yes, I did." She simply replied, "So what?"  
  
With uncaring eyes and the cold tone of her voice somehow stabbed Quatre's soul. Her every word hit him strongly, as if each one betrayed him.  
  
"You…are…"  
  
"Responsible for her death?" Ayame continued, her voice insistent and somewhat irritated, "Yeah. She's buried already; Buried with her damned bastard of a father."  
  
Quatre clenched his hand into fists yet again, holding his anger back. How could she speak like that, so cold and uncaring? Who the hell is this woman?  
  
"Why are you asking?" she teased in her desolate voice, "Are you surprised, Mr. Quatre Raberba Winner?"  
  
"How could y--"  
  
"You have no right to ask me anything." She interrupted in a more serious tone, now her eyes which were uncaring, reflected a sense of anger and annoyance.  
  
Quatre had not expected such a reply from her. He knew she was bitter, and can sometimes be rude, mostly to her peers… But the person who sat meters away from him was ruthless and heartless, and all signs of the kind young woman who sat down to chat with him in this very room were gone in an instant. Not even a small trace could be sensed in her. This person made it seem like the Ayame before was nothing but a fragment of Quatre's imagination, as if a simple little sweet dream.  
  
Ayame could easily read the look on Quatre's face. Her chest ached suddenly. Guilt… So this is guilt. It's been so long since she's felt it in her, not since Kaworu died at least. Ayame recomposed herself and spoke again.  
  
"You and your damned friends have been sneaking around lately… I'm surprised it took you that long to finally find the truth. But for that effort to sneak around… mind you, I must give you credit. But… did you seriously think I didn't know, Gundam Pilot 04?"  
  
Quatre stayed silent.  
  
Ayame's eyes lightened as a small conniving smile appeared on her face. The side of her that was truly loyal to her work, which was almost everything she's made of, enjoyed this slow agony she's pressing on the young Gundam pilot. It savored the sense of victory it could get from how the blonde young man reacted to every word. The killer in her had taken over… There was no turning back.  
  
"See? … I wasn't the only one lying." She continued, "You and the others… You're all the same… Accusing me of such selfish and irrelevant things from the past… you should be ashamed of yourselves."  
  
She closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to the side, smiling a little more, and then turning to look at the young man's tortured face.  
  
"I have nothing else to say to you except this…" she paused, the smile disappeared completely from her face and in exchange was that ruthless, deadpan persona once again, "The moment you or your friends step within my way; I will make no hesitation to kill any of you."  
  
At that, she turned away, making it clear that this was Quatre's chance to take his leave. Quatre, taking the message clearly, walked towards the door. With the sound of the door slamming close behind her, Ayame lowered her guard. She tilted her head back and looked wearily at the ceiling. She was silent, contemplating her actions and slowly taking in the emotional aftermath of what she had done.  
  
"… I'm sorry…" she muttered in an inaudible voice.  
  
*********************************************  
  
Heero walked to the docks by himself and stopped right beside a bench where Tetsuya sat.  
  
"Right on time…" Tetsuya smiled, "Take a seat."  
  
"I'll stand." Heero coldly replied.  
  
"Heh… You're the same as ever." Tetsuya shifted slightly on the bench turning to face the waters beyond the docks, "So, what do you want from me?"  
  
"I've received order to attack the base tonight. You have anything to do with it?"  
  
"I'm afraid not." Tetsuya uttered then smirked after a short pause, "… But kind of suspicious though."  
  
Heero turned his head to him in slight interest.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"The two people responsible for the destruction of that Base in Norway are appearing tomorrow."  
  
"I thought they worked for you."  
  
"One of them." The young man with dark hair corrected, "Only one of them works for us."  
  
"…Which one is it?"  
  
"Setsuko Reilly, age 13, born in Oslo, Norway. She was last assigned to Leon Rosenberg's 23rd division."  
  
"What's she doing with the other guy?"  
  
"Leon Rosenberg has turned sides against us. He's with the reapers now… Setsuko's just following orders. She's tipping them off though."  
  
"I see…" Heero turned back to the docks, "And the other one is…?"  
  
"The other boy is Shido Kagerou, age 15. He's Joel Graywolf's adopted son. Besides that, he's a natural in sharp shooting. He killed 5 government assassins a few weeks back and I've been trying to track him down."  
  
"Joel Graywolf… One of the Reapers?"  
  
"Not just one of them. He's one of their leaders."  
  
Heero looked somewhat taken back. Tetsuya took note of it and smiled.  
  
"You and J have been gone from us for a long time Heero. Things change, although some for the worst."  
  
Heero grunted in annoyance.  
  
"Anyway," Tetsuya continued, "That's the real reason why we're here. We're after the reaper kid and we want to know why he's after Federation bases."  
  
"A simple mission like that can be handled by you, alone. So the only explanation that Elena Rosenberg and Ayame Machiro are here is that… there's a catch…"  
  
"Well done." Tetsuya smiled, "After weeks of researching and following this kid's movement, we've come to the conclusion that we are not the only ones after him."  
  
"What?" Heero looked at him again from the corner of his eye.  
  
"… The very same people he works with wants him dead." Tetsuya lowered his voice and his face which usually had an impish smile had vanished, into what you could almost unmistakably take as a face of a true soldier, "He's being hunted down."  
  
"And why's that?"  
  
"It seems he killed 2 of the Reapers' main officials. There have been disputes between him and his father, so…"  
  
"He's decided to work on his own…"  
  
"… And with Setsuko following him…"  
  
"Everything's working according to plan?"  
  
"You can say that. Everything beside her…" Tetsuya sighed, "With Setsuko in a form of danger, her actions are quite surprising. Her sister complex has taken over, I guess."  
  
"You know you'll never get her to change her mind. Only your brother was able to do that…. Too bad he's dead." Heero stated coolly.  
  
Tetsuya lowered his eyes in annoyance.  
  
"…You know, she'd hit you for saying that."  
  
Heero remained silent. The older boy shifted on the bench but never removed his eyes from the yellow-orange horizon of the sea. Suddenly, a memory flashed in his mind.  
  
"Back then…" he hesitated, "Back then… when you first met Tomoko's child…"  
  
He turned his head to face Heero.  
  
"What did you think of her?"  
  
Heero cocked an eyebrow as he looked at the man sitting on the bench at the corner of his eye.  
  
"No, not like that." Tetsuya continued, "I mean, what you thought of her in general, as a person considering her… issues."  
  
Heero turned his gaze towards the waters again.  
  
"She was admirable."  
  
Tetsuya's eyes widened, slightly in shock, hearing Heero's remark.  
  
"Even though she was going through hell, she strived to live. She was stronger than any person I've ever met. She was weak when it came to her physical health… But in here," he turned completely to Tetsuya, pointing at his head, then to the left of his chest, "She was definitely strong."  
  
Tetsuya was speechless. He never expected that to come out of this young man.  
  
"… though that other one…" Heero continued, surprising Tetsuya again, "She is stronger physically… and strategy-thinking comes natural to her… but emotionally and mentally… She's much weaker."  
  
A smile broke free from Tetsuya's mouth. Heero took one last glance at Tetsuya, who remained silent on his seat.  
  
"If that's all, I'll be going." Without giving it a second though, Heero walked away towards the men's dormitories.  
  
"Feh, you're the one who called me out you rude bastard." Tetsuya muttered lightly to himself, the smile never leaving his face.  
  
He looked up at the horizon once again, this time, with the Federation base in view. Remembering Heero's words, the smile on his face saddened. He clasped his hands together and stared at it involuntarily.  
  
"… Nicole Shiriori is stronger than anyone else…" he said to himself, "And Ayame Machiro is… weak."  
  
"You save other from pain all the time. That's impressive. But, at the time you need to be protected… Who will do it?" a familiar voice mocked in his head as the memory played once again, "Who will save you, Ayame…?"  
  
-------------------  
  
Ayame's eyes shot open. It took a while for it to register that she was inside her room, and that she had fallen asleep on the chair by the window moments after the pilot of Gundam 04 left. She touched the side of her face and let out a deep breath.  
  
"I haven't seen that dream for a while now…" she thought to herself.  
  
She turned to the window and looked outside with a dead stare.  
  
"I wonder… why I'm seeing it now…"  
  
She turned to look at the time and frowned. It was 5:30. Time was going by too slowly, but something in her conflicted. 6 hours and 30 minutes till freedom… but also, 6 hours and 30 minutes till she leaves the earth for a long while… maybe even forever.  
  
Her eyes deepened in colour as she solemnly stared outside.  
  
"This is going to be the long final night on earth…" she muttered, "I only wished it was one with no regrets…"  
  
"This one long night…"  
  
"… Will be our last night to atone for sins…"  
  
"… After tonight… you and Tomoko… will finally…"  
  
"……. finally…."  
  
  
  
********************to be continued*************************  
  
Jessi-chan: … I'm working on chapter 6 already. So no more death threats over the e-mail please! I beg of you!! I've learned my lesson!! *cries again*  
  
Mae-chan: Don't worry folks. She was just reading too much "I's" and a bit upset with a few anime issues. ^^;; Till next time! 


	6. Chapter 6: Conflicting Feelings

**_GUNDAM_****_--_****_WING_**   
**LOST PROMISES**   
CHAPTER 6

DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:

Jessi-chan: And finally!  Chapter 6. 

Mae-chan: Again, the usual disclaimers.  This fic was made for our own enjoyment and for the supportive people who've e-mailed us about this fic.  All original characters belong to their designated owners, but Ayame and Tetsuya and the others are our own creations.

Jessi-chan & Mae-chan: Enjoy the chapter!!

**Reminder:** _This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information is wrong and never existed in the series._

CONFLICTING FEELINGS 

"You're finally there...  After all these years, it's almost finished." Tetsuya remarked in a lighter tone of voice to Ayame, who was now wearing her military uniform, and her hair tied in a tight bun.

            Ayame only gave Tetsuya a slight nod, and continued to stare at her reflection on the mirror before her dully.

"You're… really sure…?"

            She turned to him suddenly.  His cheerful mood had disappeared quickly in a matter of seconds.

"Sure of what?" she asked.

"About all of this… You're sure about leaving things this way."  Tetsuya asked keenly.

"What can be left when nothing has even started?" she asked him sternly.

            She grabbed a file folder that sat on her desk, and then walked towards the door.

"I think you need to get your priorities straight." She turned the knob of her door, "Major Midaki." 

            She gave him a half glance before stepping out the room and slamming the door shut.  Tetsuya let a sigh escape his mouth.

_"Brother… I wanted to follow my role as a soldier… But, I couldn't do it."_

            He turned to the door with half lidded eyes.

_" I__ failed as a soldier…"_

            Tetsuya fingered the carvings on the bed post beside him absent-mindedly.

_"But brother…  It wasn't only that…  I also failed my role as a human being… worse of all, as a friend."_

            He frowned at the voice that echoed in his head, that sad influence from the past. 

_"After all… in the end… I still couldn't save her…"_

"What are you talking about, Kaworu?"  A young 17 year old Tetsuya stood before his younger brother.

            Kaworu Midaki smiled weakly at his older brother with gentle dark blue eyes.  He brushed back his strands of short jet black hair with his hand, seeming to be at a loss for words.

"I can't really explain it, brother.  It's just weird." He leaned back on the wall behind him and thoughtfully stared up the high iron ceiling of the docking area, "It's just what I feel."

"Hah?" Tetsuya frowned and settled himself beside his brother, "What you feel about Ayame?  Is it that confusing?  Didn't you like her or something?"

            A slight color of red added onto Kaworu's cheeks as he glared at him.

"I-It's that obvio—" 

"Of course, you moron."  Tetsuya smacked him behind his head, "Everyone who knows you are aware that you're crazy about her."

"W-W-WHAT?!  I am not!" Kaworu stuttered, turning extremely red this time.

"All except Ayame."

            Kaworu paused and stared at Tetsuya, slightly bewildered at his sudden remark.

"She's too dense when it comes to these things." His older brother mocked with gesturing to his head, "She's hard-headed and her mind is practically impenetrable at most times, as long as it's not war related at least."

            Tetsuya let out a sigh and frowned.

"She's only thinks rationally in the line of duty.  Everything else outside doesn't matter to her.  It's so annoying."

"I… guess so."  Kaworu responded, staring back at the ceiling while smiling slightly to himself.

            Silence.

"Hey… brother… Remember… How it was with Nickky?"

            Tetsuya merely made a small sound of agreement.

"Did you know about Tomoko-sama's plan?"

            Again, his older brother made a small sound of agreement.

"… You know…" Kaworu paused again, "He requested me… to kill her."

            Tetsuya shifted slightly but said nothing.

"I was surprised… a father requesting for someone to kill her daughter.  It was sickening." Kaworu snorted, "I got so mad.  I got so mad that I talked back to him, the same person who saved us and gave us another chance to live."

"I questioned him for the very first time in my life."  He chuckled, "But after, he just smiled and said 'I understand.'"

            Again, there was no reply.  Tetsuya knew about this.  He knew about this clearly and even now, he couldn't understand what Tomoko Shiriori was thinking.  His thoughts were interrupted when Kaworu slammed his fist to the wall behind him.  He clenched his teeth in anger, suppressing his negative feelings.

"'I understand' my ass!"  He growled, "What the hell did he understand?!  What the hell did he understand about anything, about her?!"

_"You're wrong…" Tetsuya thought as he watched his sibling, __"We're all wrong…"_

"Did he even understand how she felt?!" Kaworu barked furiously.

_"What do we understand about them…?  What right do we have to judge either Nickky or Tomoko-sama…?  Just what exactly do we know, Kaworu?" he thought to himself, __"Those are the questions I was to ask… but…"  _

"I…" Kaworu suddenly muttered in a calm, slightly strained voice.

            His hands were at his sides, lolling silently.

"… I wanted to follow my role as a soldier… But, I couldn't do it…" he continued, "I couldn't accept such a thing… even from Tomoko-sama.  I failed as a soldier…"

 "But brother…  It wasn't only that…"  He smirked, "I also failed my role as a human being… worse of all, as a friend."

"I realized… as much as I tried to protect her, I just end up hurting her more and more.  I failed."  He muttered, "After all… in the end… I still couldn't save her…"

"How can I say I love her… when in the past… and even now…" 

            Tetsuya turned to him with sympathetic eyes.

"I let her fall…"

            Tetsuya glanced at the door where Ayame once stood.

"Moron…  It wasn't your fault."  He thought solemnly, "Saving someone who doesn't want to be saved was never an easy job."

                                                        ***

            Quatre leaned against the railing before him and eyed the now silent base floating on the sea.  In a few hours, it would be in chaos, and he will be one of the people to cause it.  Ayame most probably would be at the battle field.  She is an OZ soldier after all.  And he'd be damned to think that she would just stand there and let her comrades die by his and his companions' hands.  Wouldn't she…?

It bothered him.  Going against Ayame will not be easy, mostly with such an unclear mind.  He was still questioning himself.  The truth didn't feel clear.  The words from yesterday seemed so surreal.  But she has said it.  It wasn't a dream.  Then again, what he heard from her before when he visited her in her room was also real.  Her kindness was real.  He had proof.  When he spoke to her about her job, she showed emotion, sadness.  It was so clear back then.  Then, there was that time he spoke about Nicole… Nicole…

Quatre sighed.  The memory of the young brunette reaching for his face, and brushing it softly with her hand suddenly became fresh in his mind.  He buried his head in his arms and groaned.  This was so damned confusing!

"Are you all right?"  A feminine voice called from behind.

            Quatre turned quickly to the person behind him finding himself looking straight into deep amber eyes.  It was a woman he's never seen before in his life.  Her face was adorned with lush long dirty blonde hair; she was tall and kind looking.  She spelt out the words 'big sister' with her soft gaze and gentle smile.  

"You're Quatre Raberba Winner, correct?" she asked in her placid voice.

            Quatre nodded slowly.

"Y-Yes."

            Her smile grew wider.

"I'm Elena Rosenberg.  It's wonderful to finally meet your acquaintance."

            Quatre blinked for a moment.

"Uuh… I'm sorry, but… how do you…"

"Oh, my.  I'm not anyone suspicious." she laughed, "I know your name through Nanami-san."

"Ah…"

            Her eyes settled themselves on his face.

"I come out for a walk and here I meet the Winner-san Nanami-san speaks so highly of. I only wished I would have met Maxwell-san and Yuy-san as well."  She brushed away the wisps of hair that blew on her face with the wind, "I would have never missed an opportunity like this… mostly when Winner-san looks so troubled."

            Quatre slowly smiled at her.  'Big sister' was indeed the word for her.

"Quatre would be fine."

"Very well, Quatre-san it is." She beamed, "Elena will be fine for me as well."

            Quatre nodded.

"Well, then.  Why is a young man like you standing out here alone, looking ever so troubled?"

He smiled meekly at her.  

"What makes you think that I'm troubled?" He asked.

"When a young man is staring out at the sea, he's usually thinking of something.  Maybe about something, maybe about school, maybe about someone, or maybe it's a woman… a lost love perhaps?"

            Quatre laughed.

"That's quite romantic.  It might be true in my case.  But, it's of a different level."

            Elena smiled at him gently.

"I see."  She dusted her lap absent-mindedly.

            Only the sound of the waves could be heard as they became silent.  Elena's eyes had wandered into the depths of the sea, past Quatre's position.

"I knew someone who was like that…  He loved staring out at the waters while he thought of this girl."  She smiled at him again, "He told me, that the girl he loves is like the ocean.  She was passive… though can be fierce when a storm strikes, fierce enough to destroy those around her and those who try to subdue her.  But she also saves, bringing lost things back onto the shore where they belong.  He said he also loves her… because just like the ocean… she holds many secrets deep in the depths of her soul.  She hides them in the darkness of deep crevices, and the shadows of bounteous water plants… covering them…  So when we stare at her, we only see the water… and when we dive to find her soul… we are bombarded by her walls of lies."

            Quatre gazed at Elena, half in shock and half in awe of her words.  She had just spoken deep words, deep meaningful words.  But, why?

"I'm sorry."  She laughed, "I said too much.  I tend to ramble.  Don't mind me."

            Quatre couldn't help but smile.  

"Ara? Ayame-san."

            Quatre quickly turned to the side.  There, the pale brunette stood, looking questioningly at Elena and Quatre.

"Elena…san… Why are  you…" her voice trailed off.

"On your way to the Military base?"  Elena continued.

"Yes…" she answered.

"Is that for the office?" the older woman pointed at the file in her hand.

            She nodded in response.

"Elena-san… why are yo—"

"I'll take it to the office." She smiled and took the file from her hand, "It was nice talking to you Quatre-kun.  Ayame-san, you should go to the base now or they'll get mad at you."

            This time Ayame didn't reply.  She just watched Elena head towards the main school building, looking cheerful and calm as she had first saw her.  Ayame shifted slightly from where she stood, feeling the presence a few meters away from her.  He wasn't looking at her.  She knows that.  She always knew when someone was staring at her.  But she felt his anxiety.  She drew her breath and took a step forward.  Then, Quatre finally spoke.

"I need to talk to you." He suddenly said.

"There's nothing to talk about." She said sternly.

"There is!"

"There's nothing to talk about, Mr. Winner!" she shouted making Quatre flinch.

"…There is." Quatre said in a serious tone, "There is, Ayame.  And I'm not going to let you slip off this one.  Now please look at me."

            Ayame didn't move.  Quatre was starting to feel frustrated and confused.  There were too many things in his mind, so many feelings lurking in his chest.  It was total chaos.  He walked over to her.

"Please…" 

            She turned to him, looking at him straight in the eye, but she said nothing.  An unfamiliar feeling emitted from her eyes.  She was just as frustrated as he was.

"Don't… interfere." She said in an angry tone.

            She glanced at him with piercing cold eyes before turning away completely and walked away.

                                               ***

_"I'm not sure if I hate him or anything."_

            Heero stared at the ceiling of his room emptily.

_"He's still the only family I have.  What about you?"_

_"I have none…"_

_"I see…  I can be your family if you want!"_

_"W-What?__  That's stupid…"_

_"No, I'm not kidding!  I can be your younger sister!"_

_"… That's stupid…"_

"That's stupid…" Heero echoed under his breath.

            Why was it that he remembers such useless things?  Those were memories that will never be reckoned by anyone else but him.  They were useless things.

_"It…It seems…"_

            A flash of a face of a young girl covered in blood stared at him in his mind.

_"I made a mistake…"_

            She smiled at him, the usual brightness of her light dim and weak.

_"..I'm sorry."  _

            Heero covered his face with his hands, looking horrified of the memory of that young girl's face.  He sat up and punched the bed.  Anger and frustration was welling up in him and it was driving him mad.  He looked ahead of him, seeing the mirror hanging on the other side of the room.  His reflection glared right back at him.  The memories he was told to forget was returning, what he tried to forget.  It was all coming back slowly.  But why does it have to be now?  

_"Hey!" The memory continued._

"Hey!"  A young girl's voice called out as the young child with no name sat by himself on the grass.

            He had been ignoring the people in this colony since Dr. J had brought him there to meet a certain important person.  That same girl has been calling out like that for about 5 minutes now.  He's seen her before.  She was at the docking area wearing military clothes.  Well, she was part of the military after all.  She was 4 years older than him, and she looked a bit bossy.  She had dark black hair with a bluish tint that hung loosely upon her shoulders, and a pair of unusual grey eyes.  She had fair skin and small pinkish lips.

"Heeeey!!" The girl shouted again.

            No one would understand how much he wanted to tell her to shut the hell up.  But he didn't talk much.  He only talked when he felt like it, or when only it was necessary.  He wasn't the type to complain. 

"HEEEEEY!!" 

            But gawd… That girl really is annoying.  She was probably going to do it over again.  The young boy sat up immediately as he heard the voice starting up once more.

"HEE—"

"Shu—"

"Oh, be quiet!  I heard you already!" a tinier voice intervened before both of the other two voices could finish.

            The young boy heard someone approaching from below the hill he was on.  The owner of the tiny voice was walking in a fast, yet relaxed pace as it hiked up the hill.  Slowly, the owner of the voice could be seen.  It was a young girl, a brunette.  Her hair was in a loose pony tail and reached to her waist.  She looked no older than 9 years of age.  She was pretty… for a girl.  Chestnut eyes wandered to the young boy that sat silently on the ground as the boy also watched her, their stare never breaking away from each other until the extent of their gaze was stretched far enough.

"Geez.  What took you so long?"  The older girl remarked in annoyance.

"Be quiet." The younger one coldly replied.

.  

"What's with that attitude?" the older one whined.

"*Bozu."  The young boy turned to his side and saw the elderly man called Dr. J standing only meters from him, "Let's go."

"Un." The young boy nodded.

            He turned and glanced at the two girls talking some meters away from them, looking at them with quiet dead-pan eyes.

_"I never cared back then.  I didn't care about anything…" Heero thought to himself, __"But back then, how would I have known, that the child that owned that tiny voice, would forever be silenced in a few months.  How would I have known?"_

"Bozu." Dr. J called again.

_"How would I have known that the girl who owned that voice…"_

            The young boy turned to the old man again and followed him, the voices of the two young girls fading away.

_"Would disappear forever?  … That girl they called… 'Nicole Shiriori'."_

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ 

Jessi-chan: I never got worried about the Japanese words I write in my fics but I might as             well do it for the people who aren't familiar with it.

*Bozu –Usually used when calling a child.  It can mean "Brat" depending on the intentions of the person saying it. 

Mae-chan: Till the next chapter then.

END 


	7. Chapter 7: The Broken Family

**_GUNDAM_****_--_****_WING_**   
**LOST PROMISES**   
CHAPTER 7

DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:

Jessi-chan: Chapter 7!! 

Mae-chan: Sorry guys, but this is an extention of Heero's past with Nicole Shiriori.  We might not move forward until chapter 9.

Jessi-chan: Gomen everyone. X_x

Mae-chan: and again, we don't own the series and stuff… blah blah blah…

**Reminder:** _This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information is wrong and never existed in the series._

THE BROKEN FAMILY 

_"I first met the Midaki brothers when I went to that colony where Tomoko Shiriori was hiding.  The two brothers were strange, so to speak, but that's only my opinion.  The older one, Tetsuya Midaki, was 14 years old.  He's a little bit arrogant, and can be full of it at times.  He can be loud, and he's too cheerful.  But he also has an opposite personality residing in him, one that he doesn't show.  To be truthful I've only seen that side of him after what happened to that girl.  He was cold and cruel.  Even that annoying girl, her name was Taebe, couldn't calm him down.  From what I was told, those two were good friends.  The younger one was called Kaworu, Kaworu Midaki.  He's 2 years younger than Tetsuya. Kaworu wasn't too much like his older brother.  He was calm at most times.  He tends to stay quiet and only speaks his mind when he has to.  He's known to be quite cynical at times.  Sarcasm was also one of his main weapons.  He was like the side Tetsuya hides.  Kaworu was always serious.  He never got near too many people.  He wasn't the social-type, and he only speaks with those he likes.  Nicole once told me that.  Now that I think about it, I'm finally realizing where some of that girl's personality comes from."    _

            The young boy stood silently in front of an unfinished mecha.  It looked somewhat close to what Dr. J is working on.  

_"Is it for the same thing?" the boy thought to himself._

"Hey, kid." A young male's voice called from across the dock.

            The young boy turned, only to see a young male, about 12-13 years of age.  He had jet black hair and startling blue eyes.  The young boy stared at the older boy with expressionless eyes.

"What are you doing here?  This isn't some sort of playground." The boy continued.

            The younger boy's eyes turned hostile to the older boy's remark.  The older boy frowned.

"What's with that look…?" the boy uttered in a lower tone of voice.

            The two glared at each other in silence, only to be interrupted by the same little girl the young boy had seen outside.

"Kaworu-san!!" she shouted, bursting out from one of the doorways of the docks.

            She ran to them quickly, passing the younger boy and grabbing onto the back of the older boy's shirt.  She clutched on his polo tightly, hiding herself behind Kaworu's larger body.

"W-What is it?"  Kaworu blushed as the little girl burrowed her head into the back of his clothes.

"Tetsuya-niisan is being a *hentai!" she cried in panic from behind him.

"I was not." A voice remarked, followed by footsteps approaching them. 

            From the same doorway came out another boy, about 14 years of age, looking quite pleased about something.  Just like the first boy, this one looked peculiar.  His head was adorned with a dark tint of colour, and his eyes were green.

"I was just plainly explaining the difference and possibilities between the good and bad intentions of men." The boy called Tetsuya casually replied.

"Brother…" Kaworu glared as Tetsuya started to laugh uncontrollably.

"Well, then dear 'younger of us', who is your little friend?" Tetsuya asked pointing at the young boy standing between them.

            The girl looked at the boy and studied him for a moment.

"Ah." She mouthed.

"What is it?  Do you know him?" Kaworu asked.

            The girl let go of Kaworu's shirt and stood beside him.

"Yes." She nodded, "He was with the sensei earlier.  Taebe told me he's Odin Lowe's child."

            Tetsuya's eyes slightly widened.  The young boy was also shocked.  

"Odin Lowe?" Kaworu asked.

            The girl nodded again.

"Yeah.  Do you both know him?"

            Kaworu was watching his older brother the whole time.  He shook his head slightly, noticing that his neither brother nor Taebe had said anything to their young companion.

_"I never noticed till after I asked Dr. J why Tetsuya and Kaworu had reacted that way when they found out my connections with that man.  The one called Taebe was a girl a year younger than Tetsuya.  Her last name was 'Jinnai', the very same last name of the scientist who was originally working with a man called ^Tsubarov in some sort of program for improving MS systems.  That man's name was Sasuke Jinnai.  He was murdered after a meeting with the Barton and Romafeller families.  Jinnai was also the last name of a young leader of the L2 colonies.  They considered her to be a risk for forming a reprisal group against the Federation government.  Her name was Yashiro Jinnai.  She was also murdered… assassinated to be exact.  What I'm getting at is this…  The Odin Lowe I knew… that they knew… was the murderer of Sasuke and Yashiro Jinnai… Taebe Jinnai's parents."     _

            Tetsuya turned about and left them in a hurry.

"T-Tetsu!" Kaworu called while grabbing Nicole's hand and ran after his brother.

            The young boy noticed that Nicole's eyes never left him even as Kaworu dragged her away with him and out of the docking area.  It was obvious that the girl was curious about the sudden change of mood between her companions.

_"Our encounters became very few after that.  To be more precise, we never had another encounter… except…"_

"Odin Jr. correct?" Taebe Jinnai called to the young boy who was sitting by himself at one of the tables in the base's cafeteria.

            At first, the young boy didn't understand.  But it didn't take too long for it to click in.  So, instead of calling him "boy", "you", or "hey", they gave him Odin Lowe's name.  How typical.  The child nodded slightly at Taebe.  Might as well just go with the flow, for now…

"Would you mind if I we talk…?" she asked.

            The child nodded again.  Taebe took the chair across from the boy and sat there quietly.  She looked like she didn't know what she was doing.  It looked rather pathetic to the boy.  

"… I…  I just wanted to ask…" she started.

_"She got right to the point after that.  She asked about Odin Lowe, what kind of person was he, how did he treat me, how did his mind work.  It was as if she was searching for an excuse to not hate the guy.  She wanted some sort of justification to why that man killed her parents.  Odin Lowe was an assassin.  What else was there to it?  God dammit… she proved me wrong there as well… Our conversation lasted for awhile.  I don't even remember it lasting that long…"_

"Ta-e-be-saaaan!" a pair of small thin arms circled around Taebe from behind.

"N-Nicky..?!" Taebe stared at her in suprprise.

"Eheh." The young girl grinned, "Matreya-san just ordered for the Jr. Officers to assemble at dock 5."

"What?!" Taebe sat up suddenly, "When did he order that?!" 

"Hmm? About 5 minutes ago." 

"Aaah!"  Taebe screamed and ran out the room, "He's going to kill me!"

"**Itarashai~!" the girl waved as she said it in a sing-sung tone.

            The girl called Nicole sat herself down on Taebe's chair and stared at the boy impassively.  The boy frowned at her.

"Is your name really Odin Jr.?" she asked.

            The boy shook his head at her.

"Do you have a name?"

"Not really."  The boy uttered.

            She looked at him, slightly surprised.

"***Nanda… You 'can' talk." She remarked.

            The boy looked away from her, looking quite impatient.

"My name's Nicole.  Nicole Shiriori!" she said suddenly while reaching her hand out across the table to the boy.

            The boy took her hand reluctantly.  The moment his hand was in her grip, she shook it happily.  She was incredibly hyper.

            A chime suddenly sounded in the room, followed by a voice of a woman.

"Attention.  Attention.  All Jr. Officers please assemble in dock 5 immediately.  I repeat, all Jr. Officers please assemble in dock 5 immediately."

            The boy stared at Nicole half in wonder and shock.  

_"Didn't she just say to that other girl…" he thought._

Nicole smiled at him.

_"I never found out about what she did back then till after I met Ayame.  There were things about Nicole that only a few about.  A number of people were aware that something was wrong, but no one ever had the courage to ask.  They wanted Nicole to stay the way she was with everyone.  They never realized that by doing that, Nicole Shiriori would suffer even more." _

            Nicole had dragged the young boy out the base and to the same hill where they had first seen each other.  She said that crowds made her feel irritable.  It was true.  Nicole can never stand being in a room full of people.  She only stuck to people she liked, but she also tried to get along with everyone.  Silence was a norm in her group of friends.

"Hey, how did Mr. Lowe die?" she asked the boy while taking a seat on the grass.

"He was shot." The boy replied.

"By who?"

"… I don't know."

            Nicole didn't look like she was really paying attention.  Her eyes wandered at the scenery of buildings that stood before them in the colony.  The boy decided to just stand.

"I met him once." She muttered, "He was a really nice guy."

"Hmmm.." the boy said absent-mindedly.

"He was kinda weird though."  She laughed, "He didn't know his position compared to the high ranking officers of this colony."

            She shifted on the grass and brushed her bangs back.

"He even got mad at that man." She smiled solemnly, "He sure was nice…"

            They were silent after that.  They only continued to stare at the city area of the colony, without a care.

"'That man', who did you mean by that?"

            Nicole glanced at him, and then smiled wearily.

"My father, Tomoko Shiriori."  Nicole turned back to the scene before her, "There are a lot of things going on between the two if us… And when I saw Odin-san shouting at father, I felt relieved.  I didn't know what they were talking about but Odin-san was really against something my father had said. You see, no one ever goes against father… They were too scared…"

            The young boy knew well of what type of person Tomoko Shiriori was after staying in the colony for a while now.  He's been hearing stories from people gossiping, and Dr. J had been telling him a few things.  Tomoko Shiriori, in the boy's opinion, was a decent leader.  But, he wasn't cut out to be considered a decent father, or a good husband.  Apparently, he had sent his wife to Earth, where she died in an accident.  His first son died because of a failed experiment with some weird system that DR. J didn't want to talk about. And now, Nicole… dear god...  What the hell did that man do to the child?

            There was an amazing amount of stories and rumours about her.  All together, they talked about how Tomoko Shiriori abandoned Nicole after hearing about his wife's death.  He sent her to an orphanage in L5 for a year, only taking her back when the colony was attacked by rebellions and caused a massacre in the churches, killing all the priests, nuns, and children in it.  The rebellion had nothing to do with the war in Earth and the Colonies of course.  It was between Tomoko Shiriori and a group called "Reapers".

            The Reapers were a group of people who followed Tomoko Shiriori during his war with the Federation forces.  The details about why the group formed or what purpose do they have to exist weren't clear.  At least, it didn't make any sense to outsiders.  No one wanted to talk about it.  Maybe it was because the person who wanted to know was, again, an outsider.  There were no records of their existence either.  But then again, Tomoko Shiriori's existence was also removed from the Federation files.  All there was to know was that something important happened and it was horrible enough that the truth was kept away from the people of the world.

"Father… he's cruel… but…" Nicole muttered in a quiet tone, "I'm not sure if I hate him or anything… He's the only family I have.  What about you?"

            The boy stared at her then answered in his usual emotionless tone.

"I have none…"

"I see… So Odin-san was your only family then…"

            The boy slightly nodded.  Nicole then stood up and let out a long breath.

"Hey, I can be your family if you want!" she smiled brightly.

            The boy looked dumbstruck.

"W-What?" he stuttered, "That's stupid!"

"Oh, come on!" she said and walked right up to him, "It would be fun!"

"That's stupid." The boy repeated.

"No, I'm not kidding!  I can be your younger sister!" she said insistently, "Even just for a while!"

"… That's stupid…" her happy nature was over powering him.

"Pleaaase?" she said sweetly and tugged on his arm childishly, "O-niiii-chan~"

            The boy blushed and became frustrated.  He quickly drew his hand away from her and ran back into the building, leaving Nicole Shiriori, who was grinning happily, behind.

            Heero opened his eyes and looked around the room.  He had fallen asleep again.  He sat up on the bed and looked at the time.  It was 12:30pm. It's still way too early.  Duo suddenly busted into the room looking out of breath. 

"Heero!" he huffed, "Come here, quick!"

            He ran down the hall.  Heero got up and walked out of his room, following Duo calmly to the direction of Quatre's quarters.  When he got there, Quatre was sitting in front of his laptop with Duo standing behind him.

"What is it?" Heero asked and walked over to them.

"This." Quatre inched to the side to let Heero see what was on the screen.

            A name and a picture flashed before his eyes. It was someone that was supposed to have disappeared 9 years ago.

"Romafeller Family's Financial and Business advisor… Kathleen Mizuno…"  Heero read to himself.

            The picture was of a stunning woman in her late 30's.  She had long brunette hair tied in a bun and gentle auburn eyes.  If this woman was any younger… she could have been a replica of the girl they knew as Ayame Machiro.  Heero frowned.  Kathleen Mizuno… Katleen… Geraldo Mizuno's sister was called Kathleen Mizuno… It couldn't be. 

"I got a call from her when I was out of the building.  She left me a message at the office asking if I could meet her."  Quatre began, "So, I looked her up, just to see who she was."

"And then…?" Heero asked.

"I'm going to call her back.  I'm going to see her." Quatre answered, "If there's any chance I can find the truth about Ayame Machiro and Nicole Shiriori it might be from this woman."

_"Quatre…" Duo thought, "I'll go with you.  This is Romafeller we're talking about after all.  Who knows what can happen. Besides, I have questions of my own…"_

            Quatre nodded in agreement.  They turned to Heero.

"We'll be back in time for the mission.  So don't make that face."  Duo grinned.

_"It's not that…"_

"Do what you want."  Heero said to them, looking at the picture of the woman on the screen.

_"It's not that at all…If this was indeed the same Kathleen Mizuno who died 9 years ago… Then why didn't she come and save Nicole from Tomoko Shiriori?"_

_"It…It seems…"_

            The young face of Nicole Shiriori returned into his mind, smiling at him weakly.

_"I made a mistake…" she continued, __"I'm such an idiot… right?"_

_ "..I'm sorry."_

_"I'm… sorry…"_

_ ***********************_

Jessi-chan: Chapter 7 ends here just when a new mysterious event happens.

Mae-chan: "Dun dun duuuuun"!

Jessi-chan: lol. Till the next chapter then.

_-----------_

_Translation stuff_

_----------_

***Hentai- pervert**

****Itarashai- Can be translated as 'Have a good/nice trip'.  Usually said when bidding someone goodbye at the door.**

****Nanda- Can be translated a 'What the…' or 'oh'.**

END    


	8. Chapter 8: Lamentation

**_GUNDAM_****_--_****_WING_**   
**LOST PROMISES**   
CHAPTER 8

DISCLAIMER and Writers' note:

Mae-chan: Oh my, oh my… it seems Jessi-chan lied about making her quota of finishing the character storylines by chapter 8.

Jessi-chan: I'm sorry _;;;

Mae-chan:  ^-^ eheh.  Anyway… G-wing isn't ours and we didn't make any money for this fic… blah blah and blah… and here's Chapter 8. 

****

**Reminder:** _This fan fiction has altered facts that may have a chance of happening in the storyline of the series. So please, do not bombard us with facts that the information is wrong and never existed in the series._

LAMENTATION 

*ring*

            The phone rang for the fifth time.  Quatre had immediately left to call this 'Kathleen Mizuno' at the closest payphone after their conversation with Heero.  They "couldn't risk getting tracked down" suggested Heero.  He claims that if this Mizuno woman was able to track him down, imagine what Oz would be capable of, not to mention that Ayame and Tetsuya already knew who they were.

*click*

            Finally, someone answered.  

"Hello?" a young voice of a woman picked up.

"Hello, yes, this is Quatre Winner returning a call for a Ms. Kathleen Mizuno.  Is she there?"

"Ah, yes.  Would you please wait a moment?"

"Well?"  Duo was outside the phone boot, leaning against the railing that was placed between bear the edge of the sidewalk and the street.

            Quatre gestured for him to give him a moment.

 "… Hello..?" another voice picked up the phone, this time a little bit deeper than the first one.

"Yes... um, this is Quatre Raberba Winner.  Are you Ms. Kathleen Mizuno?"

"…. Yes, that's me." She sounded reluctant to answer.

"Um…  About the message…" Quatre continued.

"Oh, Yes! Hold on a moment!" the woman in the other line suddenly exclaimed with much enthusiasm, "I-I'll give you the address right away…"

            Duo looked at Quatre as he gestured for him to come over.  The moment Duo was within reaching area, Quatre grabbed the front of his shirt and took the note pad and pen he had asked him to bring from his front pocket.  Duo watched Quatre, bewildered, as he started to write down something on the note pad while speaking on the phone.  Not before long, Quatre hung up the phone and walked out the booth. 

"Let's go." He said to Duo as he walked past him.

"O-Oi!"  Duo followed him, slightly tripping along the way.

            Quatre was already calling for a cab when Duo reached him.

"W-What is it? Hey!" Duo called, getting into the cab after Quatre.

"Mister, do you know how to get to the Shuichirou Mizuno residence?" Quatre asked the driver.

"You mean the one near the hospital?  Or the one near the border of the city?"

"The hospital." Quatre continued, "If you're not sure, here are the instructions to get there."

            He handed the driver the page of the memo pad he had written on.

"Gotcha." The man replied and drove on.

"Hey, Quatre.  What's going on?" Duo said pleadingly, looking utterly confused.

"It's nothing." Quatre replied, smiling faintly, "I guess I'm just anxious."

            Duo's face became glum.

"You don't want to believe it do you?" Duo asked.

            Quatre smiled wearily.

"No… I don't.  I think there's more to it… that's what I believe…"

                                ********************

"Ooo-niii-chaaan~" the familiar voice sang from behind as two small arms grabbed onto his right arm.

            The young boy groaned at the sight of the young Nicole Shiriori.

"Let's play~" she said teasingly.

"Let go." The young boy muttered irritably.

            Nicole merely smiled at him, and then let his arm go.  It first felt like that was over with, but Nicole followed him and watched everything he did in the base.

"Are you that bored?" the boy finally mustered to ask.

"Not really." She replied, still smiling.

"NICKY!!" Taebe's voice echoed in the docking area, "NICKY, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

            The boy turned to his young companion and saw the sudden change of her cheerful mood to a stern look.  She looked at the boy and smiled a little, then ran off to the direction of Taebe's voice.__

_"I later found out a lot more about Nicole Shiriori.  Her childish behavior was her cover up to her serious side.  She thought it made them worry if she was too serious.  She didn't want others to feel sorry for her, or to feel obligated to make her feel comfortable at all times just because she was Tomoko Shiriori's daughter.  But… everyone had a reason to feel that way.  What she goes through everyday isn't normal.  She argues with her only family every single minute they spend with each other.  Well... she tries… to argue with him, but she quiets down…  She couldn't win against her father.  And that made her angry with herself.  She saw herself as someone who was weak.  She didn't want to be seen like that.  So… she accepted the worse thing possible."_

"NICKY!!" Taebe screamed as the screen before them in the observation dock blanked out, only the small child's shouting was heard last.

"Nicky…" Kaworu looked horrified and quickly sprinted out the room.

"Kaworu, wait!" Tetsuya shouted after him, but his younger sibling didn't bother to stop and continued on out the door.

            The young boy then decided to follow.  He ended up at the docking area for the strange mobile suit he had seen earlier when he first met the Midaki brothers.  It was in total chaos.  There were medical officers and technicians everywhere, milling around the mangled remains of the mobile suit he had seen.  Tetsuya and Taebe entered the room and ran past the young boy, joining Kaworu, who was standing near the MS.  They were already in the process of opening the cockpit.  The door budged and dark crimson liquid began to run out the pilot chamber of the MS. Taebe covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.  Again, the door budged a bit wider... more blood.  It now was flowing onto the cold surface of the iron floor.  Tetsuya clenched his fists together, looking as horrified as Taebe and his younger sibling.  With one final pull, the entrance completely opened and the inside of the small chamber could be seen.  

            There sat in the MS's pilot seat the young 8 year old covered in blood. Several deep lacerations were all over her body, allowing her life to spill away in the form of that dark liquid.

"Nicole!" Kaworu was the first to run to her when the Medical officers took her out of the cockpit and laid her on the stretcher.

            There was blood everywhere.   She was covered with it… completely.  Before the young boy could notice, Taebe and Tetsuya had already made their way to the young girl.  Taebe was crying her eyes out, while Tetsuya pleaded with the medical officer to tell him if the little girl was going to be okay.  Reluctantly, the young boy made his way to get a closer look of the young girl.  The closer he got, the more his stomach turned.  This wasn't normal.  What could have caused such injuries?  What was Tomoko Shiriori testing?  

He stopped when Nicole eyes suddenly opened and stared at him.  A small smile formed on her face.  Then, she began to speak in a strained tiny voice.

"It…It seems… I made a mistake…" she breathed, "I'm such an idiot… right?"

"..I'm sorry." She continued, "I'm… sorry…"

"I wasn't… successful…" 

Taebe suddenly looked at her angrily.

"Idiot! That's not important!" she shouted while her tears continued to flow, "How can you say that when you're like this?!"

"Please… don't hate me…"

"Stop it!" Taebe snapped.

"Don't… hate me…" the child's voice clearly showed that she was in a lot of pain, but her face looked calm, and that same smile stood its ground.

"STOP IT!!"

            The young boy's eyes widened.  Nicole couldn't see them, or hear them.  She wasn't aware of who was around, all except…  

He suddenly turned behind him.  There, he saw a man standing not too far from them.  The man looked like he was in his mid 30's.  He had black hair and the same chestnut eyes as Nicole.  He was the man they called Tomoko Shiriori.  Nicole was staring right at him.  Everything she just had uttered wasn't meant for the others…  She meant it for him…

Within the chaos and pain she was probably going through, the only thing in her mind… was that she didn't want her father to hate her.  

_"Even though he's done so much to hurt her…It doesn't make any sense…"_

"Just what were you thinking…?" Heero muttered to himself as he watched the screen of his laptop idly.

                                                        *****

            Quatre and Duo arrived at the Mizuno residence in a matter of minutes.  It was located near the shore of Maine after all, so it wasn't too far away from the school, but it wasn't close enough to walk.

"Wow… It's huge." Duo remarked to himself, looking at the towering white mansion.

            Quatre thanked and paid the taxi driver, the followed Duo to the front gates.  Indeed, the Mizuno residence was rather massive.  It could fit a few families in there.  Beyond the black painted, towering Gothic style gates was a large garden.    

            The iron gates suddenly opened and a woman in her late 30's approached them from the front door of the mansion.  She looked exactly like the picture they saw earlier that day; a delicate looking woman with brown hair, tied in the same bun, and auburn eyes.  She was wearing a cream colored business suit with a white French-cut polo underneath.  Shinning white pearls hung around her neck and a pair of pearl earrings adorned her ears.  She hurried to the gate followed by a maid, looking full of anticipation. 

            She stopped in front of the two boys, and then looked at them both from head to toe.  

"Are you…" she started.

            Duo and Quatre nodded simultaneously.

"Oh…yes, I see." She said as a grin slowly formed on her gentle face. "Well, then… why… why don't you two come in so we can talk appropriately?" 

"Y-yes…" Quatre replied and followed the woman towards the Mansion with Duo.

            The young maid finally caught up just when the woman turned towards the door.

"L-Lady Kathleen!" she said out of breath, "Y-You mustn't answer the door… y-yourself!"

"Shimura-san, we'll be inside at the study, would you mind bringing some tea in?"

"L-Lady Kathleen!" the maid called Shimura whined as Kathleen merely passed her without even giving her a half glance.

            Quatre and Duo spent the rest of the way to the study watching the much older woman's actions.  She surely had elegance and sense of majestic beauty, but she was unbelievable fidgety and perky.  She greeted everyone she came by at the halls, which were workers and even who appear to be family friends, without even forgetting to introduce the two boys happily.  It was like watching a small child introducing her new friends to her mom and dad.  It was also rather amusing, they had to admit, how the young maid would try to follow her mistress with much demise.  

            After a few more chatting and flitting about, she stopped in front of a pair of varnished carved oak doors and opened it.

"We can talk here." She gestured them to follow.

            The room was a fairly large, about the same size as three dorm rooms put together.  It appeared to be a study as towering shelves were located on the walls, an oak desk lay in front of the tall curtained window, and a coffee table and chairs sat in the middle of the room. 

            Kathleen made her way to the window and slide the curtains further apart, allowing more light into the room.  She glanced at the two boys, her eyes gleaming with such indescribable delight.

            Quatre exchanged glances with Duo and smiled.  

_                                              **************_

            Tetsuya stared tiredly at the blinking screen before him.  An e-mail from his superiors had come in and its contents would only make his job harder than any easier.  The screen blinked again and a small window opened.

"Another one… who is it this time…?" he muttered to himself.

            He clicked on the flashing window to open the mail.

-They contacted me, just like you said.  Whoever you are… Thank you.-

                                                           -Kathleen Mizuno 

            Tetsuya smiled to himself.

"*Dou itashimashita… Shiriori-sama…" he closed the laptop, and then sighed.

"Tetsuya." Kaworu called from behind him.

"Hm?"

"I'm leaving for the testing today… wish me luck." 

            Kaworu was now 16 and wearing a military uniform for MS pilots.  It was something Tetsuya never wanted Kaworu to put on.  He was following the same steps as he did.  Hopefully, he will not follow the same mistakes.

"**Ba-ka, someone as hardheaded as you won't need it." Tetsuya grinned.

            Kaworu smiled slightly.

"Thank you… brother…" he muttered.

"You better get going." Tetsuya nudged him, "Ayame and I will be watching you."

"… Yeah." He smiled wearily.

"I'm gonna head to the observation deck, okay?"

"Yeah… oh!" Kaworu called, making Tetsuya stop at his tracks.

"Hmm?"

"Tell Aya… That I'm sorry." He said reluctantly.

            Tetsuya looked at his younger brother and frowned.

"Huh?"

"Just tell her that…" he smiled, and then ran the opposite direction, toward the docking areas.

_"It doesn't make sense…  It always doesn't make any sense till it's too late…"_

            Tetsuya covered his face with his hands.

"Stupid kid… how dare you run away like that from us…" Tetsuya mumbled in a strained tone.

            A pair of arms wrapped themselves loosely around Tetsuya from behind, startling him a little.

"How long have you been here?" he asked her, burying his head into the hair on the side of her face and placing his hands on her arms, firmly.

"Just got here." Ayame replied, closing her eyes, "Were you thinking about Kaworu?"

"Not really…" he muttered into her ear.

"Liar."

            Tetsuya chuckled.

"By the way…" she continued.

"Hmm?" 

"Don't get too close or too comfortable… or I'll tell Taebe on you." 

            Tetsuya smiled and kissed her on the cheek, then let her go.  Ayame stepped away from him and headed to the nearest computer console in the room.

"Did you get orders from Matreya?" Ayame asked as she sat down before a console and began typing away.

"No." he lied, then put the laptop into its bag.

"I see…" she said without even pausing at her work.

"How about Taebe?"

"Yeah… she gave me my orders." Ayame sighed, "Ah… I can't figure it out…"

"Hm?"  Tetsuya got off his seat and walked to the young soldier's side, "What are you working on?"

"Shido Kagerou…"

"Aaah.  Taebe asked you to review those files?"

            Ayame nodded.

"He's a complicated one.  I don't understand the way he thinks…"

            Tetsuya smiled lightly at her remark.  The younger soldier noticed.

"What?" she asked blandly.

"Nothing." He chuckled then patted her on the head, "***Gambaro."

            Tetsuya pulled a chair near Ayame and sat down on it.

"Well, what do you plan on doing to Kagerou?"  

            Ayame glanced at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"You're leaving that decision to me?"

            Tetsuya nodded.  

"I thought it would only be proper to do so with after what happened during Leon's attack on your brigade, right?" 

            The young girl simply looked away.

"That's funny, the way I remember it, the person who was angry the most was you and your brother."

            Tetsuya slightly smiled.  It was true.  Leon Rosenberg was formerly his younger brother's best friend.  It was to the point that Tetsuya even felt jealous at some times when the two were together.  It felt like his role as Kaworu's older brother was being challenged.  The two of them…. No, the three of them were inseparable, that being Kaworu, Leon, and Ayame.  Kaworu and Leon were the troublemakers and Ayame was the peace-keeper.

            But for every happy moment must be an end.  That's what they've all learned in the army.  The year before Kaworu died, Leon betrayed them by switching sides to the enemy and tried to take Ayame's life along the way.  Ayame was kept in the hospital for 2 months since Leon stabbed her.  Kaworu went berserk for awhile since Leon got away.  Ayame let him get away.  It took a few tranquilizers to stop Kaworu from chasing after Leon.  Tetsuya knew well that Kaworu would have killed him.  After all, he also… wanted to kill Leon.

"How long are you going to space out like that?"  Ayame frowned.

            Tetsuya got up from his seat.  His eyes were fixated on her intensely. 

"W-What…?"

            Tetsuya then reached to her collar, making Ayame flinch and flush at his sudden actions.  

"H-Hey!  I'll really tell on you!" she snapped, trying to pry his hand away.

            He pulled down the collar of her turtle neck which revealed a rather nasty looking scar. 

"… I was hoping that this would be gone by now." He muttered as he looked agonizingly at the remnants of Ayame's wound.

            That's where it was… the signs of Leon's betrayal.  He gritted his teeth at the sight of it, and then closed his eyes.

"T-Tetsuya…"

            He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly.

"Back then… I wasn't able to protect you… or Kaworu…" he whispered softly.  "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"                   

            Ayame suddenly froze as his words hit her.  Something was wrong…

_"I'm sorry…  I'm so sorry… _I wasn't able to protect you… or your mother… or… Masato…"_ Another voice whispered in her head._

            Who…?  

"But don't worry… you don't have to worry anymore…" the voice continued.  "I won't let anyone hurt you again."

Who was it? 

_"Never again."___

            Her eyes widened in horror as it continued on in her mind.

_"Nicky."_

*********************

Jessi-chan: …. Flashback bananza… O_O;;  Anyway… wow… Finally finished this chapter.  I've been busy with other fanfics and Mae-chan's been busy with work… so.. yeah.  We'll try out best to finish this up. ^_^  We're almost to the end.

_-----------_

_Translation stuff_

_----------_

***Dou itashimashita- You're welcome**

****Baka**- idiot

*****Gambaro**- keep at it or Good luck

^**Oto****-sama- Father**


End file.
